Align nat'l plans with goals to end TB

The World Health Organization (WHO) has called on countries in South-East Asia Region to build on the recent momentum aimed at ending TB (Tuberculosis) by 2030, said a press release.

Commending the resolve to take action to end the disease, it also urged all countries to align their national plans as per the “Call for Action for ending TB”, which was signed by the WHO and health ministers from countries in its South-East Asia Region in New Delhi, India, in March.

At the Seventieth session of the Regional Committee, which concluded in the Maldives yesterday, Dr Khetrapal Singh, regional director, WHO South-East Asia, said, “The region-wide momentum established to 'bend the curve' and end TB by 2030 is laudable.”

 “We have reached a critical consensus; the pressing need now is to translate commitment into action,” she said.

Bending the curve and ending TB was a key topic on the agenda at the session.

Across the region, TB remains the largest cause of death and suffering due to any communicable disease among the most productive age groups, the press release said.

Although the region accounts for approximately one quarter of the world's population, it has nearly half the number of new TB cases and close to 40 percent of TB deaths globally.

Bangladesh, Bhutan, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, India, Indonesia, the Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Timor-Leste are members of the regional committee.