Every year nearly 200,000 newly infected tuberculosis patients are recorded in Vietnam, and around 30,000 succumb to the disease, according to the National Tuberculosis Control Program.
This information was released on March 20 at a meeting to mark World Tuberculosis Day, on March 24, which aims to raise public awareness of tuberculosis--a growing threat in much of the world.
The country has between 5,000 and 6,000 patients with multiple drug resistant versions of the infectious disease that attacks the lungs and is spread through the air when patients cough, sneeze or otherwise transmit their saliva.
Dr. Phan Thanh Liem from Pham Ngoc Thach Hospital said the program has piloted the new treatment diagram in which treatment time is reduced to six months instead of eight months.
However, the program did not gain acceptance as expected because patients did not follow the whole treatment process or comply with preventive measures at home, like having individual sets of utensils, and avoiding contact with other members of the family.
In addition, the program lacked personnel and time for supervising patients during treatment. As a result, the program stopped in 2000.
For the period 2013-2017, the program has to be re-implemented to finish tuberculosis prevention goals to eradicate the disease by 2030.
