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Friday, October 25, 2013

1.3 Million People Died of TB Worldwide in 2012: WHO Report

Global Tuberculosis Report 2013 released by World Health Organization reveled that, Tuberculosis (TB) disease killed 1.3 million people worldwide in 2012, while India alone accounted for 26 percent of total TB cases globally. The Global Tuberculosis Report 2013 released on 23 October 2013 at London.
Tuberculosis, or TB, is an infectious bacterial disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which most commonly affects the lungs.
Global Tuberculosis Report 2013 Highlights

1.The report found that global TB deaths decreased to 1.3 million in 2012, which is 100000 less than the previous year. 

2.Approximately 75 per cent of total TB deaths occurred in the African and South-East Asia Regions in 2012.

3.India and South Africa accounted for about one-third of global TB deaths.

4.The report also found that the number of people ill with TB fell to 8.6 million in 2012. The largest number of incident cases in 2012 were India (2.0 million-2.4 million), China (0.9 million1.1 million) and South Africa (0.4 million0.6 million).

5.The majority of TB cases worldwide in 2012 were in the South-East Asia (29 per cent), African (27 per cent) and Western Pacific (19 per cent) regions. 

6.India also accounted for 31 per cent of the estimated 2.9 million missed TB cases people who were either not diagnosed or diagnosed but not reported to National Tuberculosis Programmes (NTPs).

7.WHO also expressed concern over multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) which claimed 170000 lives in 2012. The agency estimates that 450000 people fell ill with (MDR-TB) in 2012, with the highest burden in China, India and the Russian Federation.

8.The report also revealed that between 1995 and 2012, 56 million people were successfully treated for TB in countries that had adopted WHO's global TB strategy, saving 22 million lives. 

9.The new data confirm that the world is on track to meet the 2015 UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) target of reversing TB incidence, along with the target of a 50 per cent reduction in the mortality rate by 2015 (compared to 1990).

What is Tuberculosis?

Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease that is caused by a bacterium called Mycobacterium tuberculosis. TB primarily affects the lungs, but it can also affect organs in the central nervous system, lymphatic system, and circulatory system among others. The disease was called "consumption" in the past because of the way it would consume from within anyone who became infected.
Tuberculosis is curable and preventable. TB is spread from person to person through the air. When people with lung TB cough, sneeze or spit, they propel the TB germs into the air.

TB is generally classified as being either latent or active. Latent TB occurs when the bacteria are present in the body, but this state is inactive and presents no symptoms. Latent TB is also not contagious. Active TB is contagious and is the condition that can make you sick with symptoms. 

TB is a major cause of illness and death worldwide, especially in Africa and Asia. Each year the disease kills almost 2 million people. The disease is also prevalent among people with HIV/AIDS.
Key facts about Tuberculosis

1.Tuberculosis (TB) is second only to HIV/AIDS as the greatest killer worldwide due to a single infectious agent.

2.In 2012, 8.6 million people fell ill with TB and 1.3 million died from TB.

3.Over 95 percent of TB deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries, and it is among the top three causes of death for women aged 15 to 44.

4.In 2012, an estimated 530000 children became ill with TB and 74000 HIV-negative children died of TB.

5.TB is a leading killer of people living with HIV causing one quarter of all deaths.

6.Multi-drug resistant TB (MDR-TB) is present in virtually all countries surveyed.

7.The estimated number of people falling ill with tuberculosis each year is declining, although very slowly, which means that the world is on track to achieve the Millennium Development Goal to reverse the spread of TB by 2015.

8.The TB death rate dropped 45 percent between 1990 and 2012.

9.An estimated 22 million lives saved through use of DOTS and the Stop TB Strategy recommended by WHO.

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