Beijing: China has made the biggest progress worldwide in controlling tuberculosis (TB) over the past 20 years, a World Health Organization (WHO) official said Friday.
There is no reason that, over the next 20 years, China cannot lead the efforts to put an end to TB, Xinhua quoted Bernhard Schwartlander, WHO representative in China as saying during an event held here to mark the 19th World Tuberculosis Day, which falls Monday.
China’s infectious TB incidence decreased by 61 percent from 169 per 100,000 people in 2000 to 66 per 100,000 people in 2010. The result means China completed a goal set by the WHO five years in advance.
However, there are still an estimated 1 million new TB cases emerging in China every year. Only 60,000 multi-drug resistant TB patients are accessing proper treatment.