BERITABETA.COM – The impact of the disruption caused by the Corona virus pandemic and the lack of funds in global efforts to combat TB disease is alleged to trigger the possibility of a drastic increase in deaths from tuberculosis (TBC) in the coming years.
This is a warning issued by the World Health Organization (WHO), following a significant reduction in the reporting and monitoring of new TB cases in the first half of 2020.
This condition occurs, because countries have imposed a lockdown to curb the spread of the corona outbreak (Covid-19).
It said three high-burden countries, namely India, Indonesia and the Philippines, reported decreases of between 25% and 30% in TB notifications during the first six months of this year or until June 2020 compared to the same period last year.
The three countries are also among the countries with the highest number of corona virus cases in the world.
“A reduction in notification of these cases could lead to a dramatic increase in TB deaths,” wrote the WHO report as quoted by Kontan.co from Al Jazeera.
TB is considered to be the most deadly infectious disease in the world. It is caused by bacteria that attack the lungs most often, and can spread easily.
It is estimated that 14 million people were treated for TB between 2018 and 2019. They represent only about one-third of the 40 million TB sufferers the UN agency hopes to treat by 2022.
WHO noted that although the incidence of the disease fell by 9% between 2015 and 2019 and deaths decreased by 14% over the same period, more than 1.4 million people still died from tuberculosis in 2019.
Now the presence of the corona virus pandemic is hampering efforts to fight tuberculosis.
“The corona pandemic threatens to reduce TB cases that have been acquired over the past few years,” said WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
“Accelerated action is urgently needed around the world if we are to meet our targets,” he said.
According to WHO, among the most pressing challenges in fighting tuberculosis is funding.
This year, the funds raised for the prevention, diagnosis, treatment and treatment of TB only reached US $ 6.5 billion globally, or only half of the US $ 13 billion target agreed upon by world leaders in the UN Political Declaration against TB.
Without urgent action and investment, global targets for TB prevention and treatment will likely be missed.
TB is preventable and curable. According to WHO data, about 85% of those infected with TB were successfully treated with a six-month drug regimen. This treatment also reduces transmission of infection.
“Since 2000, TB treatment has prevented more than 60 million deaths,” said Tedros.
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) is disappointed to see that governments around the world are not on track to achieve their goals of testing and treatment for TB disease.
“Tuberculosis has remained a burden throughout human history, so it is not time for the government to become more serious in dealing with this deadly disease,” said Sharonann Lynch, MSF’s senior adviser on TB and HIV-AIDS.
“With the corona outbreak causing the postponement of TB tests, the government needs to make plans to pursue targets,” he added
-Source: Kontan.co
