TUBERCULOSIS: Vietnam reports high number of patients annually

 Nov 24, 2011, T. Lam - Translated by Uyen Phuong
According to the Central Lung Hospital and World Health Organization, each year around 6,000 patients or 2.7 percent of the population in Vietnam suffers from multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis.
This was disclosed at a seminar on Tuesday jointly held by the Central Lung Hospital and the World Health Organization (WHO) in Ho Chi Minh City.
Vietnam aims to halve this number by 2015 and is working towards a goal to eradicate the disease by 2030.
This is the overall objective of Vietnam’s tuberculosis prevention program for the period 2011-2015 aimed at complete eradication by 2030.
Vietnam is 12th amongst 22 nations to have the highest number of tuberculosis patients. The country also ranks 14th among 27 nations to have so many multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis patients.
Annually the country registers 180,000 new cases and 32,000 tuberculosis fatalities, a serious burden on the country.
http://www.saigon-gpdaily.com.vn/Health/2011/11/98494/

TUBERCULOSIS: Viet Nam: Farmers at risk of contracting tuberculosis

June, 08 2011

According to the National Committee for Tuberculosis Prevention and Control, 76 per cent of tuberculosis patients in Viet Nam are farmers.
A recent survey showed that people living in rural and densely populated areas were most at risk of contracting the disease.
The provinces with the highest rate of tuberculosis infection are Sõon La, Cao Bang, Bac Kan, Tuyeâên Quang, Vinh Phuc and Hai Phong – all in the north of the country.
Health workers say farmers are most at risk because they tend to be poor, live in polluted and humid conditions and have limited access to health care.
To help reduce infection, the Central Hospital for Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases is working with the Central Association for Farmers to raise awareness about the disease. About 50 of the association's members in 17 localities will be informed about the disease and how to minimise infection.
According to the World Health Organisation, Viet Nam ranks twelfth out of 22 nations with the highest tuberculosis infection rate.
http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn/Social-Isssues/212112/Farmers-at-risk-of-contracting-tuberculosis.html

TUBERCULOSIS: Viet Nam: More patients resistant to tuberculosis drugs

HCM CITY — Doctors warn that the number of tuberculosis patients resistant to drugs is on the increase in HCM City.
Director of the Pham Ngoc Thach Hospital for Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases Nguyen Huy Dung said the number of TB patients in the city had doubled from 8,000 to 15,000 in the past 10 years.
On average, the number of patients increases by about 2 per cent a year. Most patients are between 25-54 years old.
Hospital statistics show that TB patients and thousands more with lung and bronchial diseases are making life a burden for the medical sector.
Dung said that every year, about 14,000-15,000 more patients attended TB control programmes in the city. About 8,000 were new patients.
Last year, more than half of the 100,000 people – or nearly 1 per cent of the city's population – who went to the TB hospital for health checks were found to have various levels of the disease. About 1,100 of them were resistant to drugs, including about 200 patients who cannot be treated with them.
There are a total of about 700 chronic tuberculosis patients who are resistant to most drugs. Only about 50 per cent can be cured.
Phan Thuong Dat, a doctor of the hospital, said that treating these patients was as difficult as treating patients 50 years ago when there were few antibiotics.
Dung said the main reason for the increased number of TB patients resistant to drugs was the low awareness.
After treatment for two months many patients refused to take more drugs because they were feeling healthier, but the correct treatment period is about eight months.
Another reason for the increase in TB patients was the cost of treatment was nearly VND10 million (US$500) in eight months, so many patients could not afford a complete course.
"Patients joining the national tuberculosis control and prevention programme are exempted from paying for the five main drugs, but they still have to buy a number of restorative and other drugs," said Dung.
"Besides, doctors at private hospitals write prescriptions for tuberculosis patients although they do not specialise in the disease," he said.
Dung said that this year the medical sector would join hands with municipal police to supervise the work of private hospitals.
http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn/Social-Isssues/208120/More-patients-resistant-to-tuberculosis-drugs-.html