Health

Increase in drug-resistant TB in southwest

An increase in the number of resistant-TB cases has occurred in the southwestern region of Vietnam, according to the head of the region’s national TB prevention and control office.
Increase in drug-resistant TB in southwest ảnh 1Illustrative image (Source: VNA)

HCM City (VNA) - Anincrease in the number of resistant-TB cases has occurred in the southwesternregion of Vietnam, according to the head of the region’s national TB preventionand control office.

At a conference on TB prevention held last weekin Can Tho, Dr Nguyen Thi Thanh Nhan said that nearly 1,300 patients withresistant TB were diagnosed every year in the southwestern region, accountingfor 25 percent of the total number of resistant-TB patients in the country.

The provinces of An Giang (220), Dong Thap (150)and Kien Giang (130) have the highest number of resistant-TB cases in thesouthwestern region, while Ca Mau, Vinh Long, Can Tho, Tien Giang and Ben Treprovinces face a shortage of medicine and chemicals as well as funds.

Between 2011 and 2015, the prevalence ofpatients with TB per 100,000 people in the region was 141, according to theMinistry of Health. The figure was 1.3 times higher than the national rate of112.

Nhan said besides the shortage of humanresources, staff in charge of TB prevention and control in the region hadreceived insufficient allowances (benefits beyond salary and bonuses).

Dr Nguyen Viet Nhung, head of the country’snational TB prevention and control programme, said that TB prevention should beconsidered the task of the entire community.

He said that more investment was needed for newtechnologies as well as medicine for treatment and prevention in order to reachthe target of TB elimination.

In the 2017-2020 project on active interventionin TB prevention in the southwestern region, the Can Tho TB and Lung DiseaseHospital is expected to become the leading specialised centre in the region.

The national TB programme aims to raise the rateof successful TB detection and treatment cases and reduce the number of resistant-TBcases from now to 2020.-VNA

VNA
#drug-resistant #TB #southwestern region #tuberculosis
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