Tuberculosis (TB) is a respiratory infectious disease caused by a germ or bacillus (Mycobacterium tuberculosis) affecting mostly humans and, to a much lesser extent, bovines. TB is a curable disease.
In about 80% of cases the TB bacilli dwell into the lungs of the affected host. However, TB can spread to many other organs, causing the various forms of extra-pulmonary disease. These forms are more commonly seen in children and people living with HIV/AIDS.
People ill with TB bacilli in their lungs can infect others when they cough, sneeze, speak aloud, sing and spit.
Tuberculosis is one of the world’s leading infectious killers of young adults, the most productive layer of the population.
Globally an estimated 1.3 million people died from TB in 2008, In addition, another 500 000 people with HIV die from HIV-associated TB. In Viet Nam, almost 30 000 people die every year (one death every 18 minutes) from TB.
Viet Nam, with its estimated 175 000 new cases per year (or 201 cases x 100 000 pop.) ranks 12th among the 22 countries which added together account for 80% of the global TB burden
If TB is detected early and properly treated using a combination of medicines for 6 to 9 months, the patients quickly become non-infectious and are eventually cured.
Multi-drug resistant TB (MDR-TB) and extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB), HIV-associated TB and weak health systems are major challenges in Viet Nam.
In Viet Nam there are an estimated 7000 new MDR-TB cases and 6,400 new TB/HIV cases every year. Both of these forms of complicated TB carry a high risk of early mortality.
The Government has recognized the impact of tuberculosis on poverty and development. It has included TB control in the interventions to implement the Poverty Reduction and Growth Strategy.
Since the Government declared TB a national priority in 1995, Viet Nam’s TB programme has expanded the WHO-recommended DOTS strategy to all districts and communes, reaching 100% population coverage by 1998.
Figures from Viet Nam’s Ministry of Health (MOH) show detection and cure rates are well above the global targets set by the WHO. However, in spite of an excellent performance, the notification rate (new cases of TB/100,000 pop) has not shown any significant decline over the last thirteen years.
A TB prevalence survey conducted by the National TB Programme in 2007 has reveled that the burden of TB in Viet Nam is 1.6 times higher than previously estimated. A more recent workshop (Sep. 2009) has re-assessed the Case Detection Rate (= % of cases notified over total estimated number) and lowered its 2008 figure from 82% to 62%. The new estimate clearly indicates that more efforts are to be done in order to increase case detection among categories at risk, such as smokers, diabetics, PLWHA, prisoners, slums dwellers and among patients seeking care in the private sector.