Ministry aims to cut down TB-related deaths
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Thailand has 130,000 tuberculosis (TB) patients, of whom 80 per cent suffer from pulmonary TB, and up to 11,000 patients die from the disease every year, Public Health Ministry statistics showed yesterday. The ministry aims to implement three strategies t
Ahead of World TB Day, Disease Control Department chief Dr Pornthep Siriwanarangsan told a meeting with Thailand Stop TB partnership members that there were 8.8 million new TB patients globally in 2010 and that the death rate stood at 1.4 million per year according to World Health Organisation statistics.
World TB Day will be marked tomorrow.
Thailand, one of the 22 countries suffering from severe TB, has up to 94,000 new TB patients per year – which grew by 3 to 4 per cent per year – and 50 per cent of these patients were in the contagious stage. The TB situation in Thailand has worsened due to the HIV outbreak and a growing number of drugresistant strains. There are 1,920 TB patients in the Kingdom who are resistant to several drugs.
The ministry and its allies will hold an antiTB campaign at Hua Lampong Train Station tomorrow, providing free health checks and an education exhibition.
