Three of the world's six regions are expected to have achieved targets for tuberculosis (TB) control by the end of 2005, according to a World Health Organization (WHO) report published on Wednesday.

The Region of the Americas, South-East Asia and the Western Pacific should be detecting 70 percent of TB cases and successfully treating 85 percent of these by the close of the year, said the Global TB Control 2006 report.

The report, which was based on 2004 figures provided by WHO members, was released in advance of World TB Day, to be marked on March 24.

It confirmed that 26 countries around the world had already met the targets one year ahead of time, including two high TB burden countries, the Philippines and Vietnam.

The report also showed that five other high-burden countries -- Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia and Myanmar -- should have reached the targets within the 2005 time frame, though final confirmation will come at the end of 2006.

"There is clear evidence that investment in TB control works. Even in low-income countries with enormous financial constraints, programs are operating effectively and producing results," said WHO Director-General Lee Jong-wook at a press conference to launch the report.

"This same commitment needs to be replicated in African countries and other areas where funding and priority for TB control remains fragile," he said.

The latest estimates shown in the document suggested that 1.7 million people died from TB and 8.9 million new cases of the disease were reported in 2004.

During the same year, the number of TB cases was stable or falling in all regions but Africa, where infections continued to grow because of the complications of HIV co-infection and poor health systems.

Despite the cost-effectiveness of TB control, there is concern that African leaders are still failing to seriously invest in proven measures, the report said, urging African governments and donors to provide more funding for fighting the disease.

Meanwhile, Eastern Europe, with its high prevalence of multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB), continued to have an adverse impact on global treatment success rates, the report said.

According to a WHO global plan for stopping TB, the rise in TB incidence globally is expected to be reversed by 2015.

Source: Xinhua