Two health commissions: TB remains a "major challenge"

03:54 p

Tuesday March 19, 2019

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) –

Tuberculosis remains a "major health challenge" in Central Asia and Europe, despite a decrease in the number of registered cases, according to two regional health organizations.

About 275,000 TB cases were recorded in 2017, the last year for which data were available, down 15,000 from 2016.

Of the total number of TB cases, 77,000 people have multiple drug resistance patterns.

The Stockholm-based European Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the Copenhagen-based European Office of the World Health Organization have stated that the fight against MDR-TB is the cornerstone of Eradication of the epidemic by 2030.

"If we do not act quickly and decisively, drug-resistant disease patterns will intensify in Europe," said Suzana Jacab, Regional Director of the World Health Organization.

The European Union, made up of 28 countries and third countries, such as Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein, registered about 55,000 TB cases in 2017.

"Although the burden varies considerably in the region, we will have to follow country-specific pathways," said Amanda Amon, director of the European Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Both bodies said that early diagnosis and treatment formed the foundation for preventing transmission, adding that the use of new drugs to treat the types of multidrug-resistant TB was also important.

The results were published before World Tuberculosis Day, celebrated on March 24 each year.