Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam, Chairman of the National Steering Committee for TB Prevention and Control, speaks at the meeting. (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – Detecting tuberculosis (TB) cases at anearly date requires efforts of not only the health sector but also the entirecommunity, heard a meeting of the National Steering Committee for TB Preventionand Control in Hanoi on March 9.
Delegates shared the views that new equipment, drugs, vaccines andapproaches would support the early detection and treatment.
They agreed on the need to step up strategic solutions, createbreakthroughs in relevant laws and policies, enhance international cooperation,and intensify the communication work.
The move aims to basically eliminate the disease by 2030.
By 2020, Vietnam expects to reduce 20 percent of TB infections and40 percent of TB mortalities.
Nguyen Viet Nhung, Director of the National Lung DiseasesHospital, quoted international experts as saying that Vietnam is on the righttrack to wipe out the disease.
He, however, pointed out a range of challenges to the National TBProgramme such as how to ensure a sustainable source of medicines and call forpublic response to the work.
Statistics show that Vietnam spots more than 100,000 TB patients or57 percent of the total cases each year. The country has a high TB cure rate(90 percent) as compare with the world’s average (56 percent).
The World Health Organisation (WHO)’s report unveils that thecountry recorded 174,000 new TB cases in 2018, with about 11,000 fatalities./.
VNA
