Overall TB control carried out in China

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, March 26, 2004

Overall TB control carried out in China

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March 24 is the "World Tuberculosis (TB) Prevention and Cure Day". As learned from Chinese Ministry of Health, the year 2004 has been chosen as a year for China to step up overall TB control actions at all localities.

As shown in a plan made by the National Center for Disease Control and Prevention, this year will see more than 95 percent of the counties in China adopt modern TB control strategy and be completely carried out in 22 provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions. They include Gansu, Chongqing, Hunan, Xinjiang, Hubei, Hebei, Liaoning, Guangxi, Fujian, Guangdong, Ningxia, Shandong, Hainan, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Sichuan, Heilongjiang, Jilin, Shaanxi, Tianjin and Beijing and Shanghai as well.

According to Xiao Donglou, Deputy Director of Disease Control Department, Ministry of Health, China ranks the second in the world in terms of TB patient's number, next to India only. WHO has listed China as one of the 22 high TB-ridden countries. Over 50 percent of the Chinese population once contracted TB, a rate much higher than the global average. Of China's 4.5 million people suffering from TB, 1.5 million are infectious, and it sees a new TB occurrence of 1.45 million every year with approximately an annual mortality of 130, 000 people.

The backward regions in China's Midwest are the worst TB affected regions with its occurrence three times as high as that of the eastern coastal provinces. About 80 percent patients in China live in rural area. What is more, there has been no decline in number of infectious TB patients over the past ten years. The patients' families are usually impoverished and most of them are lack of medical insurance.

The TB prevention is not only a problem of individual's health, but also an important problem of public health and even a social problem, said Xiao Donglou. China is facing a tough task to control TB. At present, a situation featuring cooperation between various departments, the overall involvement of the whole society hasn't come into being yet. The education with regard to TB knowledge is still not popular enough; the capability to prevent and cure TB cannot meet demands, stressed Xiao.

To deal with these problems, Professor Zhao Fengzeng, a member of the Experts Council of the Ministry of Health, and advisor to The National Center for Tuberculosis Control and Prevention suggests that the idea of making profits from TB treatment be abandoned. The TB patients are brought into hospitals for treatment by designating some special departments to manage them and put polyclinics capable for the treatment of TB patients as designated TB hospitals so that the TB patients unable to afford the expenses can get free medical treatment.

It is reported that as from Apr.1 onwards Zhejiang Province will afford the TB patients in the province with free medical checkups and treatments by putting in four million yuan this year for the purpose.

By People's Daily Online

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