Illustrative image (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – Delegates at a conference in Hanoi on August 15 discussedmeasures to complete tuberculosis (TB) treatment facilities in 15 provincesthat have yet to build special hospitals for this disease.
Associate Prof. Dr. Nguyen Viet Nhung, Director of the National Lung Hospitaland head of the National TB Prevention Programme, suggested the localities thatare constructing TB hospitals soon put these facilities into operation.
Meanwhile, other provinces should set up TB and lung centres equipped withpatient beds, TB and lung centres or departments at general hospitals, and TBor TB-HIV departments at provincial disease control centres, he said.
The conference was held in the context that Vietnam is ranked 16 among 30countries worldwide with the highest number of TB patients, and 15 out of 30 countrieswith the highest multidrug-resistant TB burden.
Globally, TB is the second leading cause of deaths among infectious diseases,killing about 1.6 million people each year.
Eachday, nearly 4,500 people losetheir lives due to TB and close to 30,000 people contract thispreventable and curable disease, according to the World Health Organisation(WHO).
In Vietnam, the number of TB patients dropped by 31 percent between 2007-2017.
The figure fell more rapidly in recent years, especially after the PrimeMinister issued the National Strategy for TB Prevention and Control by 2020with a vision towards 2030.
The resolution adopted at the sixth plenum of the 12th Party CentralCommittee also sets the target of basically putting an end to TB in Vietnam by2030.
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has recently approved theestablishment of a national committee on TB eradication.
Headedby Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam, the committee is designed to have amaximum of 20 members. Its operation will be supported by the same apparatusthat has been running projects for the National Committee for AIDS, Drugs andProstitution Prevention and Control.-VNA
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