Jakarta – Days on the commemoration of World Tuberculosis (TB) Day on March 24, doctors warned that progress in the global fight against the disease was set back more than a decade due to the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.
Board review Stop TB Partnership, shows that in nine countries with high TB prevalence – Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Filipina, South Africa, Tajikistan and Ukraine – the average diagnosis and treatment fell 23 percent. Stop TB Partnership is a non-profit organization sponsored by the United Nations (UN) in Geneva.
Executive Director of the institute, Dr. Lucica Ditiu, said the fight against TB had 12 years back. “This impacts all efforts, as well budget us, everyone’s efforts. Basically we are back to the starting point at that time, “said Ditiu to FLY.
World TB Day on March 24 marked the day when German scientist Robert Koch announced in 1882 the discovery of the bacteria that cause tuberculosis. These bacteria are still the leading cause of death worldwide from this highly contagious disease. There is one vaccine against TB, but it has limited effectiveness in adults.
Tuberculosis killed 1.4 million people worldwide in 2019. A report from the Stop TB Partnership said by 2020, ‘Covid-19 globally surpasses TB as the leading cause of death from infectious diseases, but in low and middle income countries, death from TB remains much higher than Covid-19. As the number of people vaccinated against Covid-19 increases, the number of Covid-19 deaths decreases while TB will continue to kill around 4,000 people every day. ‘
Like Covid-19, tuberculosis is a lung disease, although it is caused by bacteria, not a virus. “Many people who handle TB – doctors, nurses, health workers, providers – have been diverted from TB to Covid,” said Ditiu.
Annual TB incidence (per 100,000 population), by region, worldwide, 2017 (Photo: cdc.gov)
The hospital ward used for TB patients was quickly transformed into a Covid-19 emergency unit. As countries impose lockdowns to fight the pandemic, TB diagnosis and treatment is particularly affected.
Meanwhile, the Director General of the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said Tuesday the weekly death toll from the Covid-19 pandemic had increased for the first time in seven weeks.
edros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the global number of cases had also increased in recent weeks, and reiterated his call for developed countries to do more to help with vaccine availability in middle and low income countries through a UN-supported program known as COVAX.
The comments were made at a meeting of the five leaders of the world’s leading UN and international organizations, organized by the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the new WTO leader, called for increased vaccine production through efforts to share technology and knowledge (my / lt) /voaindonesia.com. []
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