The World Health Organisation (WHO) in association with the World Bank has launched a new global plan, "Stop TB Partnership" to stop the rise of Tuberculosis in the World, especially in some of the South East Asian countries like India and Pakistan.
The initiative launched in Washington appealed to the governments of both developed and developing countries to increase the financial aid given to health care. India, with its large size and larger population, spends only 6% of its Gross National Product on health care. It alone carries 30% of the world's tuberculosis burden. There were 349,770 TB smear-positive cases reported in 1999. 22 countries, including India account for 80% of tuberculosis patients in the world.
The plan proposes to make TB treatment available to the masses. DOTS (Direct Observed Therapy Short course), the preferred treatment measure for TB would be given national access so that even the poor patients are able to avail the benefit. Currently about 15% patients are covered by this form of therapy. The plan also proposes to increase efforts for research in the area of TB treatment to develop new strategies to combat the disease that takes more than 2 million lives every year. The implementation of the project is estimated to cost 9.3 billion US dollars.
The association of TB with HIV makes it a dreaded disease. A person afflicted with TB is more likely to fall prey to HIV infection. TB accounts for more than 15% AIDS deaths worldwide. HIV infection weakens the immune system of the body, which makes the symptoms of TB worse. There are more and more drug resistant cases of TB that are being reported, making its management more difficult. The incidence of the disease has also increased in the past few years due to exodus of people from one country to another. Refugees are more at risk of contracting the disease in refugee camps and this has been a major cause of the rise in cases in countries such as Afghanistan and Pakistan. The program `may come as a step forward towards a TB-free world.
UNI
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