Globally, new TB case detection rates grew by 6 percent between 2001 and 2005, but that progress slowed to 3 percent in 2006, the World Health Organization warned on Monday. In 2006, about 9.2 million new TB cases were detected worldwide, compared to 9.1 million cases the previous year. But WHO estimates the detection rate was only 61 percent of all cases, and that there were 14.4 million TB cases, including undetected infections, in 2006.
"This is not a good sign, because our target is to detect all cases that exist," said Mario Raviglione, director of WHO's Stop TB department. "There is 39 percent that we are unable to find, but which we think is there."
WHO attributed the flagging detection rate to some national programs that were unable to continue at their previous pace. In many African countries, there has been no increase at all in detection rates. Other TB cases could be slipping through national reporting systems as patients receive care from private doctors, non-governmental or community groups.
"We've entered a new era," said Margaret Chan, WHO's director-general. "To make progress, firstly public programs must be further strengthened. Secondly, we need to fully tap the potential of other service providers."
There were about 700,000 new TB cases and 200,000 TB deaths among people living with HIV in 2006, WHO said. An estimated 1.5 million HIV-negative people died from TB worldwide that year.
"The report tells us that we are far from providing universal access to high-quality prevention, diagnostic, treatment and care services for HIV and TB," said Dr. Peter Piot, executive director of UNAIDS. "The report clearly demonstrates how closely linked TB and HIV are," he said, noting that TB is "the single most important cause of death for people living with HIV."
03/17/08
GLOBAL: WHO Warns More TB Cases Slipping Through Detection Net
Source: Agence France Presse; Courtesy of the CDC National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention