Washington (dpa) - Fewer people are dying from tuberculosis and
fewer people are falling ill, the World Health Organization said
Tuesday.
"For the first time we are reporting that the number of people
falling ill with tuberculosis each year is declining," Mario
Raviglione, director of WHO's effort to stop tuberculosis, said in
Washington.
"Also the number of people dying from TB fell to its lowest level
in a decade."
Global deaths dropped to 1.4 million in 2010 from 1.8 million in
2003, according to WHO's report. The number of new cases slipped to
8.8 million in 2010 from 9 million in 2005.
"The TB death rate dropped 40 per cent between 1990 and 2010, and
the world is therefore on track to achieve the 50-per-cent decline in
TB mortality that is our international target for 2015," Raviglione
said.
He credited a combination of factors for the worldwide decline,
including "probably" better control of AIDS in societies hardest-hit
by tuberculosis, such as in Africa. TB had become more widespread in
the last two decades, often spreading in the population of AIDS
patients, whose immune systems were weakened by their HIV infection.
"So when AIDS comes down in those countries, then TB also comes
down," Raviglione said.
Better awareness of tuberculosis and increased spending to address
the disease had improved earlier detection of cases, which helps
prevent further spread of the potentially deadly bacterial disease.
"Fewer people are dying of tuberculosis, and fewer are falling
ill. This is major progress, but it is no cause for complacency,"
UN Secretary General Ban-ki Moon said in a statement.
Tuberculosis, which usually strike the lungs, is spread by
coughing or other contact from infected people. It can be cured with
antibiotics, but drug-resistant strains have complicated treatment
for some patients.
World Health Organization Director General Margaret Chan said that
"particular attention" is still needed for multidrug-resistant
tuberculosis, which she called a "growing threat."
Raviglione said that China, in particular, has seen improvements,
with a TB death rate that fell by nearly 80 per cent from 1990 to
2010.
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