More

    SouthAsia leads with the highest burden of tuberculosis

    HealthSouthAsia leads with the highest burden of tuberculosis
    - Advertisment -

    SouthAsia leads with the highest burden of tuberculosis

    WHO’s 2021 Global TB Report reveals that years of efforts made to prevent and control TB have been reversed in the wake of tackling COVID-19 as tuberculosis deaths rise for the first time in more than a decade. SouthAsian countries have fared badly.

    A study on the quality of tuberculosis care in urban India, led by the World Bank between 2014 and 2017, suggested that about two-thirds of India’s 2.75 million new tuberculosis patients were treated at private health facilities every year. The grim pointer to the dearth of public-funded medical care accompanied yet another revealing number: only 35 per cent of these patients were provided the correct treatment.

    Nothing has improved in the three years gone past.

    A majority of TB patients continue to receive wrong treatment. People are not being diagnosed timely; patients are prescribed the wrong drugs; many are dying; and new strains of drug resistant tuberculosis bacteria are playing havoc. The public health system, in disarray, or worse, in a shambles, remains the record-keeper of the dead: illustrating clearly how, with all attention diverted to COVID-19 in the past year, TB is taking a heavier toll than ever before.

    - Advertisement -

    But the government continues to celebrate the private sector. Former Union Health Minister, Dr Harsh Vardhan, actually put in a word of appreciation in his foreword message accompanying the India TB Report 2021. “The private sector is a critical partner in the fight against TB and has worked tremendously in provision of high-quality people-centred care,” his message reads.

    In fact, the India TB Report 2021 admits that the National Tuberculosis Elimination Programme is challenged by discrepancies in human resource staffing. District level vacancies in some states are as high as 30 per cent. “The situation is worse where vacancies among different cadre of staff range from 12 per cent to 75 per cent,” it says.

    Double whammy

    COVID-19 dealt the next whammy. The diagnosis and treatment of life-threatening diseases like Tuberculosis, HIV AIDS, and Malaria took a backseat as global healthcare resources and intelligentsia were engaged in generating a COVID-19 response, according to the World Health Organisation’s 2021 Global TB Report.

    Globally, tuberculosis deaths have risen for the first time in more than a decade. Experts have conveniently blamed this rise on the COVID-19 pandemic. WHO report does not criticise governments, particularly the government of India, for neglecting its public health care. It does not say that governments, like India’s, or Indonesia’s, or the Philippines or China’s could have done more, especially since the annual report has consistently pointed to the need to do more.

    WHO’s report this year puts the onus of the record number of tuberculosis deaths of fewer people getting diagnosed or receiving TB prevention services. The number of newly diagnosed TB patients and those reported to national governments fell from 7.1 million in 2019 to 5.8 million in 2020. The maximum number of new TB cases reported in 2020 occurred in the WHO South-East Asian Region, with over 43 per cent of the new cases.

    SouthAsia home to most people living with TB

    India led all countries with a 41 per cent drop in TB notification between 2019 and 2020, way ahead of Indonesia (14 per cent), the Philippines (12 per cent), and China (8 per cent).

    As per the 2021 list, the highest disease burden lay mainly in 30 countries that accounted for over 86 per cent cases. South-Asian countries like India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal are among the top 20 in terms of the absolute number of incidents. With an average decline of 23 per cent in TB case finding and enrollment in treatment, Nepal has also entered the list of the worst-hit countries.

    Besides a dip in diagnostics, hindrance in access to facilities due to lockdowns and reallocation of financial and human resources to cope with the aftermath of COVID-19 and vaccinations, are also responsible for the burgeoning cases.

    It could get worse

    WHO’s Global TB Programme has monitored the impact of the pandemic on TB services and provided guidance and support since the declaration of COVID-19 as a public health emergency of international concern.

    Projections by the global health organisation suggest the count of people developing tuberculosis and dying from the disease could be much higher in 2021 and 2022. The bleak prognosis raises the curtains on what can get worse.

    “This report confirms our fears that the disruption of essential health services due to the pandemic could start to unravel years of progress against tuberculosis,” WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a press statement put out by the organisation.

    - Advertisement -
    Khushi Malhotra
    Khushi Malhotra
    Khushi is a published author, screenwriter and a budding journalist from Delhi. She loves travelling, yoga, chocolates and craves intellectual conversations.

    LEAVE A REPLY

    Please enter your comment!
    Please enter your name here

    Latest news

    Sri Lanka’s Elephant Corridor Plan ‘Unscientific’

    Nearly 5,000 elephants and 1,600 people have been killed in the last 15 years in clashes between elephants and humans in Sri Lanka, home to one of the largest remaining populations of Asian elephants, according to official figures.

    New Projections Show Extreme Glacier Loss Already at 2°C

    Staying close to 1.5°C on the other hand preserves at least some glacier ice in all regions, even Scandinavia, with 20-30 per cent remaining in the four most sensitive regions; and 40-45 per cent in the Himalayas and Caucuses; stressing the growing urgency of the 1.5°C temperature goal and rapid decarbonization to achieve it.

    Government Extends Interest Relief for Farmers, Reinforces KCC and MISS as Pillars of Agricultural Credit

    Through the KCC framework, farmers benefit from revolving credit facilities for up to five years. This flexible structure allows them to draw and repay funds as per their seasonal requirements without having to reapply for loans each season.

    Legal Battle Brews Over Rampant Illegal Sand Mining in Meghna River

    The massive profits coupled with a weak legal framework have drawn influential individuals with political connections into the sand mining business, making it dangerous for environmental activists and journalists to speak out.
    - Advertisement -

    Yunus Warns of ‘War-Like Situation’ Amid Political Crisis and Rising Tensions

    The high-stakes meeting brought together 20 leaders from various political parties and organisations in two separate sessions, as Yunus sought to shore up support amid reports of internal tensions within his interim government and growing external pressure.

    Vice President Calls for Direct Subsidies and Agri-Entrepreneurship at Madhya Pradesh Conclave

    He urged agro-based industries, NGOs, MPs, and MLAs to adopt villages and help build agri-entrepreneurial ecosystems.

    Must read

    Sri Lanka’s Elephant Corridor Plan ‘Unscientific’

    Nearly 5,000 elephants and 1,600 people have been killed in the last 15 years in clashes between elephants and humans in Sri Lanka, home to one of the largest remaining populations of Asian elephants, according to official figures.

    New Projections Show Extreme Glacier Loss Already at 2°C

    Staying close to 1.5°C on the other hand preserves at least some glacier ice in all regions, even Scandinavia, with 20-30 per cent remaining in the four most sensitive regions; and 40-45 per cent in the Himalayas and Caucuses; stressing the growing urgency of the 1.5°C temperature goal and rapid decarbonization to achieve it.
    - Advertisement -

    More from the sectionRELATED
    Recommended to you