Tuberculosis on the rise in Central and Eastern Europe

[Guest guest]

Tuberculosis on the rise in Central and Eastern Europe

Published: Wednesday 26 March 2008

EU data and a World Health Organisation (WHO) report have highlighted

the need for improved health systems to deal with a rise in

drug-resistant tuberculosis in Eastern Europe and former Soviet states.

While Europe has concentrated a great deal on TB in recent decades,

" we have collectively failed to reduce the number of relapses of the

disease, " said WHO Regional Director for Europe Marc Danzon,

presenting the report on Global Tuberculosis Control 2008external .

He said that Europe had failed to ensure that health systems can

guarantee correct dosages and durations of treatment. It had also

failed to tackle the drug-resistance issue, he added.

Published a week before this year's World TB Dayexternal on 24 March

2008, the report reveals a slowdown in progress on TB control

throughout the world. In particular, this deadly infectious disease is

being diagnosed more slowly than before.

The WHO report also reveals that multidrug-resistant tuberculosis

(MDR-TB) has reached the highest levels ever recorded, which could

further slow progress in controlling the disease.

According to the report, MDR-TB has risen sharply within Europe over

the last decade and many countries are struggling to manage this

increase. Eastern European countries are particularly affected, with

12 of the 14 most affected areas in that region alone.

Cases of drug-resistant tuberculosis are particularly prevalent in the

former Soviet republics, where health systems are frequently too

under-staffed and under-funded to deal with the disease adequately.

Specialised agencies dealing with tuberculosis often do not contact

general health services, allowing TB cases to slip through the net.

Additionally, cases have arisen in the socially disadvantaged sections

of Western European societies, where migrant workers and asylum

seekers are often not covered by healthcare.

Health systems across Europe have focused on this treatable disease

extensively in recent years, yet relapses continue to occur. " We often

fail to focus on how the health system can tackle the drug-resistant

issue, " said Dr. Danzon.

Just days before World TB Day, the EU-funded EuroTB networkexternal

released separate dataexternal on TB cases recorded in the EU. The

annual report shows that nearly 90,000 cases were reported in the EU

in 2006 alone. The disease " has declined slightly in the EU in recent

years, but we are a long way from stopping it, " said the director of

the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC),

Zsuzsanna Jakab. She particularly urged action on MDR-TB, which " is

still rare in most EU countries " .

The ECDC action plan to fight TB in the EUPdf external , also

published in the run-up to the global event, provides a roadmap to

control and ultimately eliminate TB in the EU. ECDC recognises that

most of the activities set out in the plan " rely on national efforts "

but proposes " a catalyst role for EU organisations and other partners " .

The plan states that rapid detection and effective treatment of TB

cases are the keys to stopping the disease and preventing the further

emergence of MDR-TB, or even Extensively Drug Resistant TB (XDR-TB).

The plan's four key areas for action are: ensuring prompt and quality

TB care for all, strengthening health systems, development and

assessment of new tools and building partnerships and international

collaboration.

http://www.euractiv.com/en/health/tuberculosis-rise-central-eastern-europe/artic\

le-171145