Brazzaville, 24 March 2013 - - World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Director for Africa, Dr Luis Sambo, has re-iterated his plea to governments and their health and development partners to increase and sustain political and financial commitments for tuberculosis (TB) control in the WHO African Region.

“This is vital to ensure that everyone has access to TB prevention and treatment services in all countries in the region”, Dr Sambo said  in his message on the occasion of World TB Day, observed worldwide on 24 March.

In the message, released in Brazzaville on Sunday, Dr Sambo also called for strong strategic partnerships between governments, communities, bilateral and multilateral organization and the private sector to control the disease. The slogan for this year’s World TB Day is “Stop TB in my lifetime.” 

The Regional Director stated that the widespread use of the WHO recommended Stop TB strategies and increased use of newly developed rapid TB detection methods by countries in the region had resulted in a significant reduction in diagnostic delays and  improvements in treatment outcomes as well as the detection of TB cases.

These positive developments have led to a halt in the rising trend of TB cases, a fall in TB-related deaths and a decline in the number of people who fail to complete their TB treatment, he said.

Dr Sambo added:  “In spite of these achievements, there is no place for complacency, and I would therefore like to stress the importance of early diagnosis as the most effective way of preventing the spread of TB.   Anyone with persistent cough for more than two weeks is advised to seek medical attention”.

TB remains a major public health problem in the African region which accounted for over 26% of notified TB cases globally in 2011.   It is estimated that TB killed over half a million people in the African Region and only 62% of existing TB cases were detected in the year.   The situation is further worsened by the threat of drug-resistant TB and multi-drug resistant TB which continue to be serious problems complicating TB treatment.

The TB epidemic in Africa is largely driven by factors related to poverty and the negative effects of TB and HIV co-infection.   People living with HIV are more likely than others to become sick with TB.   According to the Global Tuberculosis Report of 2012, 46% of those who had TB in 2011 were HIV positive and sadly, only 46% of them received the WHO recommended anti-retroviral treatment. 

Dr Sambo therefore urged countries to strengthen linkages between TB and HIV programmes, partners, civil society organizations and community based health providers for improved health outcomes.

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For more information, please contact:

Technical contact:                      
Dr. Bah Keita                        
WHO Regional Office for Africa                
Brazzaville, Congo                         
Tel: +47 241 39 336
Email: keitab [at] afro.who.int

Media Contact:
Samuel T. Ajibola
Tel: +47 241 3978 
E-mail: ajibolas [at] afro.who.int