Illustrative image (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) - Tuberculosis patients are the most vulnerable to the COVID-19pandemic, according to a recent report from the World Health Organisation(WHO).
During a teleconference on August 17 reviewing the activities of theNational Tuberculosis Control Programme during the last six months andoutlining tasks for the remainder of the year, Director of the National LungHospital and head of the programme Nguyen Viet Nhung said the rate of TB worldwidefell 25 percent in the first half of this year. In Vietnam, it was down 11percent.
Of the 2.4 million deaths caused by TB, HIV, and malaria around theworld during the period, 1.5 million died from TB due to a lack of access tosupport services during the COVID-19-triggered lockdown.
Vietnam now ranks 11th out of the 30 countries and territories interms of TB and incidences of multi-drug-resistantTB.
Forty-eight of its 63 citiesand provinces have lung and tuberculosis hospitals.
The programme has beencarried out in all wards, communes, and districts nationwide, giving access to everyonein Vietnam.
In order to achieve the goal of eliminating TB by 2030, Nhung askedlocalities to increase the discovery of incidences by using modern technologyand adopting new approaches to TB prevention and control./.
