New York Times: WHO: Progress in Fighting TB Slows
LONDON (AP) — The fight against the global tuberculosis epidemic has slowed to a crawl, the World Health Organization said in a report Monday. The worldwide rate of TB infection has been declining for several years. But between 2005 and 2006, the rate of new cases fell by less than 1 percent, far less than the annual decrease of 5 to 7 percent sought by health officials.
At the same time, drug-resistant TB is growing faster than ever, the WHO said last month.
Independent health experts criticized the WHO's TB policy as too passive, and urged a more proactive strategy. …
…In 2006, there were an estimated 9.2 million new tuberculosis cases and 1.5 million deaths, the WHO said in its report, which was based on government data from 202 countries and regions.
India and China have the most cases, followed by Indonesia, South Africa and Nigeria, the report said.
By region, Asia has 55 percent of all TB cases, and Africa has 31 percent. …
…The report said TB infection rates were stable in Europe, and declined about 3 percent in the United States.
In Africa, however, they were still increasing as the AIDS epidemic fuels transmission. TB in Africa has increased at least fivefold since the 1990s….
Leave a Reply