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Tuesday 11 September 2007

Tuberculosis in Africa -- incomplete data

The World Health Organisation said lack of regional data for Tuberculosis (TB) prevalence in Africa is hampering the monitoring and evaluation of TB control programmes there and was hampering health officials in efforts to estimate the disease prevalence, unlike HIV, which has regional records to facilitate planning to control the spread of the pandemic.
Some 590,000 Africans die from Tuberculosis annually, this is 35% of the world total. Africans living with TB are estimated to be around 4 million.
Despite the significant progress by member states in the implementing of the Direct Observed Therapy Short (DOTS) course, TB remained the most important communicable disease in the Region. Other challenges faced by the region to control TB were low or non-participation of the private sector, limited laboratory facilities for diagnosis, human resource capacity, slow country TB/HIV implementation and the expansion of community and civil society Organizations involvement.
Outlining some strategic ways to address the challenges, WHO African Regional Office suggested pragmatic actions to accelerate population DOTS coverage to increase case detection, reduce patient default to improve treatment success rates and strengthening health systems for TB laboratory networks as well as mobilising additional resources for TB. WHO Africa Regional Office would ensure the reduction of the gap created between policy and implementation, advocate for correct approach to programme implementation, undertake special studies on TB prevalence and DOTS implementation and make available simple treatment guidelines and charts. These strategies would help to achieve the global target of stopping TB by at least 70 per cent case detection rate and 85 per cent treatment success rate among new cases by 2015.
http://www.afriquenligne.fr/news/daily_news/who_says_africa_region_lacks_data_on_tb_prevalence_200709108303/

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