Tuberculosis is not a disease of the past
Andrea Ammon,
Director of ECDC
ECDC.Publications
The threat tuberculosis (TB) poses should be high on the public health agenda – even in low-incidence settings such as the European Union/European Economic Area (EU/EEA). With nearly 60 000 cases detected annually and affecting vulnerable populations disproportionately, TB remains a problem for the region, with no end currently in sight for the epidemic.
World TB Day is commemorated annually on the 24th March to raise awareness of the epidemic. For the occasion, ECDC released its annual joint TB surveillance and monitoring report with the WHO Regional Office for Europe. The report states that the annual decline of TB incidence needs to be at least doubled to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal target of ending the TB epidemic by 2030.
In addition to active TB, latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) needs to be tackled; carriers are asymptomatic but might develop active infectious TB later. To enable Member States to develop better screening strategies for LTBI, ECDC released technical reports on mathematical modelling and cost effectiveness analysis for this purpose. These are complemented by a tool directed at public health professionals and policymakers to help the estimation of costs and effects of different LTBI screening strategies.
ECDC also released an infographic illustrating how whole genome sequencing (WGS) would enable better management and investigation of TB outbreaks in the EU/EEA. This type of technology is key to curb transmission and to prevent the resurgence of TB.
The fight against TB is not over and we must increase our efforts until TB is eliminated once and for all.
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Deas Madams / Sirs
Thanks tu Andrea Ammon, Director of ECDC…
Technical data and evaluation is quite sufficient..
How about underlying basic cause(s) of TB??
For example, poverty with the top priority??!
It should never be neglected :
- TB infection is a result of socio-economic conditions rather than biological ones..
With regards. 6th May 2018
Ahmet SALTIK, MD, BS
Professor of Public Health
Ankara Univ. Medical School, Dept. of Public Health, Turkiye
www.ahmetsaltik.net profsaltik@gmail.com