BANGKOK,(NNT) – The Ministry of Public Health has launched a campaign on World Tuberculosis Day 2017, announcing its goal of eliminating TB from Thailand by the year 2035.
According to the Assistant to the Minister of Public Health, Dr Thawat Soontarajarn, the ministry projects that Thailand will see 117,000 new TB patients per year, of which 12,000 will be fatal. Drug resistance may occur in as many as 4,700 cases.
From 2000 – 2015, the number of TB cases has dropped each year by an average of 2 percent. The ministry announced its five-year strategy to combat tuberculosis from 2017-2021. It aims to reduce the number of TB cases by 12.5 percent per year and reduce the rate of contraction from 171 for every 100,000 people to 88. The campaign will focus on proactive screening for new TB patients and personnel training.
The ministry’s ultimate goal is to eliminate tuberculosis from Thailand by the year 2035.
