Tuberculosis patients are the most vulnerable to the COVID-19 pandemic: WHO

During a teleconference on August 17 reviewing the activities of the National Tuberculosis Control Programme during the last six months and outlining tasks for the remainder of the year, Director of the National Lung Hospital and head of the programme Nguyen Viet Nhung said the rate of TB worldwide fell 25 percent in the first half of this year. In Vietnam, it was down 11 percent.

Of the 2.4 million deaths caused by TB, HIV, and malaria around the world during the period, 1.5 million died from TB due to a lack of access to support services during the COVID-19-triggered lockdown.

Vietnam now ranks 11th out of the 30 countries and territories in terms of TB and incidences of multi-drug-resistant TB.

Forty-eight of its 63 cities and provinces have lung and tuberculosis hospitals.

The programme has been carried out in all wards, communes, and districts nationwide, giving access to everyone in Vietnam.

In order to achieve the goal of eliminating TB by 2030, Nhung asked localities to increase the discovery of incidences by using modern technology and adopting new approaches to TB prevention and control.