Hanoi (VNA) –🐼 Up to 70% of the tuberculosis (TB) patients are of the working age group, which has affected both households’ economic well-being and the national economy, Health Deputy Minister Tran Van Thuan told a workshop in Hanoi on March 24.

TB burden

The official stressed that 🐈although Vietnam has gained significant achievements in TB prevention and control, it is still among the countries with a high burden of the disease as up to 169,000 cases and 12,000 deaths were reported in 2021, up 35.8% from the previous year.

He cited the Global Tuberculosis Report 2022 as saying that Vietnam ranked 11th out of the 30 countries with the highest burden in the world, and was facing a risk of outbreaks in the community. According to the deputy minister, up to 63% of the regular TB patients and 98% of the drug-resistant TB patients face huge diagnosis and treatment costs which exceed their households’ annual income by 20%, meaning the disease is a financial burden for families and the economy in general. Dinh Van Luong, Director of the National Lung Hospital, pointed out that the COVID-19 pandemic has severely impacted TB diagnosis and treatment over the past years. “All the progress made until 2019 has been slowed down, stalled, or entirely reversed, leading to a deviation from the global TB elimination targets,” he stressed. Luong cited a WHO report as saying the number of deaths caused by TB has increased for two consecutive years, and for the first time in over a decade the annual number of new TB cases has also risen.

Mobilising public response

Vietnam detected 103,120 TB patients in 2022, up nearly 31% year-on-year, and 1.8% against that of 2020, proving the strong recovery of the TB prevention and control programme, Luong said. “However, we have detected only 60% of the estimated TB patients in the community,” he said, stressing that to ensure the access to quality diagnosis and treatment services for the remaining 40% and vulnerable groups, the programme needs the support all-level leaders, as well as departments, agencies and the entire society to ensure sustainable financing. Sharing Luong’s view, Thuan said the target of ending TB can be reached with strong political resolve of leaders at all levels and the engagement of all people, despite a host of challenges.  Interventions aimed at expanding the TB control network will be prioritised in the time ahead such as public-private health coordination as well as coordination between TB and HIV prevention and control programmes, and mobilising the participation of political, social, and civil organisations in this regard, the official said. World Health Organisation (WHO) Representative in Vietnam Angela Pratt lauded Vietnam’s efforts in TB prevention and control, saying the country has carried out many important policies, including ensuring sustainable financing for treatment, and piloting and duplicating the proactive detection of cases, and applying more cutting-edge technologies in testing./. Box: World TB Day is celebrated on March 24 each year to raise public awareness about the devastating health, social and economic consequences of TB, and to step up efforts to end the global TB epidemic. The World TB Day 2023, with the theme 'Yes! We can end TB!', aims to inspire hope and encourage high-level leadership, increased investments, faster uptake of new WHO recommendations, adoption of innovations, accelerated action, and multisectoral collaboration to combat the TB epidemic. This year is critical, with opportunities to raise visibility and political commitment at the 2023 UN High-Level Meeting on TB in September. This year the spotlight of World TB Day will be on urging countries to ramp up progress in the lead-up to the high-level meeting.