PHA-Exchange> WHO SEES SURGE IN PROGRESS AGAINST TUBERCULOSIS ON EVE OF GLOBAL SUMMIT

[Claudio]

From: "Vern Weitzel" <vern.weitzel at undp.org>

> > *WHO SEES SURGE IN PROGRESS AGAINST TUBERCULOSIS ON EVE OF GLOBAL SUMMIT
> > *
> >
> > *Geneva/New Delhi* - The number of tuberculosis patients diagnosed and
> > treated under DOTS^* , the internationally recommended strategy for TB
> > control, is now rising much faster than at any time since DOTS
> > expansion began in 1995, according to a new report by the World Health
> > Organization (WHO). Indeed, the past two years have witnessed
> > accelerated growth in the implementation of DOTS programmes worldwide.
> >
> > The 2004 Global Tuberculosis Control report confirms that DOTS
> > programmes are now treating three million TB patients every year, an
> > increase of more than one million patients compared to just two years
> > ago. That increase is nearly double the average annual increment of
> > 270 000 patients during the previous six-year period, and the
> > trajectory is still heading upward. India is leading the surge with
> > more than a quarter of all additional DOTS cases being treated,
> > followed by smaller but significant increases in five other key
> > countries with high rates of TB: South Africa, Indonesia, Pakistan,
> > Bangladesh and the Philippines.
> >
> > The findings of the report will be presented on Wednesday by LEE
> > Jong-wook, WHO Director-General, at the opening session of the 2^nd
> > Stop TB Partners' Forum in New Delhi, a two-yearly summit of donors,
> > technical agencies, NGOs and ministers from the 22 high-TB burden
> > countries under the umbrella of the global Stop TB Partnership.
> >
> > "DOTS expansion is one of the major public health success stories of
> > the past decade, one that is saving thousands more lives every day,"
> > Dr Lee said. "But to reach the 2005 targets for detection and
> > treatment, the challenge now is to add another one million TB patients
> > to DOTS programmes each year. Many of these new cases will be
> > recruited from the hospitals and private health sector in Asia,
> > especially China, and from beyond the present limits of health systems
> > in Africa."
> >
> > The global 2005 targets for TB control are to detect 70% of all
> > infectious TB cases and cure 85% of those cases detected. According to
> > the WHO report, the case detection rate has risen to 37% and cure
> > rates to 82%. Meeting the 2005 targets will put the world's TB control
> > programmes on the path to achieving the Millennium Development Goal
> > (MDG) of halving the global TB burden by 2015.
> >
> > Expanding and strengthening DOTS is key to halting the spread of TB
> > because it is cost-effective, ensures treatment compliance, and
> > prevents the development of drug-resistant strains of TB. Of the 210
> > countries that reported TB case notifications and/or treatment
> > outcomes to WHO in 2002, 180 are today implementing the DOTS strategy
> > and providing access to services for nearly 70% of the world's
population
> >
> > The World Bank, a key member of the Stop TB Partnership and a leading
> > financier of TB-related programmes in developing countries, welcomed
> > the WHO report as evidence that donor funding for expanding DOTS
> > treatment had proven effective in improving the health and welfare of
> > communities afflicted by the disease.
> >
> >
> > "This new evidence is important. Speeding up TB case detection is the
> > critical first step in curing more patients and driving down disease,"
> > said James Wolfensohn, President of the World Bank. "This gives us
> > solid ground to push for the greater support needed to reach our goals
> > faster. Strengthening overall health systems to reach the poor will be
> > another critical route towards controlling TB."
> >
> > There are an estimated 8.8 million new cases of TB each year of which
> > 3.9 million are infectious. The number of new cases is increasing
> > rapidly in Eastern Europe, mainly countries of the former Soviet Union
> > which only recently started to implement DOTS. A special surveillance
> > report issued last week by WHO found that TB patients in parts of
> > Eastern Europe and Central Asia are 10 times more likely to have
> > multidrug-resistant TB than in the rest of the world. TB incidence
> > rates also continue to rise at an alarming rate in African countries
> > with high HIV prevalence.
> >
> > "HIV/AIDS is driving the TB epidemic in southern and eastern Africa
> > and will  worsen the situation in Eastern Europe, India and China in
> > the years ahead," said Dr Jack Chow, the WHO Assistant
> > Director-General for HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. "We cannot
> > control one without controlling the other, and must begin rapidly
> > scaling up TB/HIV collaborative activities to provide a synergy of
> > prevention, treatment and care for co-infected patients."
> >
> > Another key document to be presented at the Delhi summit will be a
> > progress report on the Global Plan to Stop TB, the strategic roadmap
> > which guides the development and work of the Stop TB Partnership. The
> > report assesses progress in eight key areas: DOTS expansion; DOTS-Plus
> > for Multidrug-Resistant (MDR) TB; TB/HIV, research and development for
> > new TB drugs, diagnostics and vaccines; the Global TB Drug Facility;
> > and resource mobilization. "The Global Plan covers the five-year
> > period from 2001-2005, and this progress report will tell us how well
> > we are doing in meeting the process targets of the Plan at the midway
> > point," said Ernest Lowensohn, chairman of the Stop TB Coordinating
Board.
>