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 19 March 2010
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Drug-resistant tuberculosis at an all-time high

19/03/2010

The World Health Organization (WHO) says a form of tuberculosis that is resistant to treatment with drugs is now at record levels.

In its new report on multi-drug resistant tuberculosis known as MDR TB and extensively drug resistant tuberculosis, the XDR TB, WHO says in some areas of the world, one in four people with TB, becomes ill with this form of the disease.

The UN health agency estimates that almost half a million people had multi-drug resistant TB worldwide in 2008 and a third of them died.

WHO stresses that diagnosis and treatment are the only effective ways to control the disease as it has been proven in developed countries such as the United States and in one region of Russia.

Co-author of the report Dr. Matteo Zignol says there are approximately half a million cases every year and only a small fraction of them, 7 per cent, get diagnosed and treated.

He says there are very few laboratories to diagnose this form of tuberculosis in developing countries:

"In the African continent there are only two laboratories that are sort of licensed to diagnose XDR TB. The diagnosis for MDR TB and XDR TB are complicated but, of course, for XDR TB which is a form of MDR TB, which is resistant not only to the conventional drugs but also to the so-called reserve drugs or second line drugs. So for XDR TB basically we have very few treatment options."

Dr. Zignol says WHO and its partners have a big $87 million project to build laboratories in 27 countries throughout the world, and the majority of them in Africa to enable diagnosis of this form of tuberculosis.

Diane Bailey, United Nations
Duration: 1'50"

Sound bites

Dr. Matteo Zignol, co-author of the report on MDR TB and XDR TB cut 1

"In the African continent there are only two laboratories that are sort of licensed to diagnose XDR TB. The diagnosis for MDR TB and XDR TB are complicated but, of course, for XDR TB which is a form of MDR TB, which is resistant not only to the conventional drugs but also to the so-called reserve drugs or second line drugs. So for XDR TB basically we have very few treatment options."
Duration: 21"

Dr. Matteo Zignol, co-author of the report on MDR TB and XDR TB cut 2

"This is an important report on multi-drug resistant tuberculosis. This is a form of tuberculosis resistant to the conventional drugs, the drugs that we use normally to treat tuberculosis. We confirm in this report that MDR TB is really a serious threat to global health. We estimate approximately half a million cases every year and almost a small proportion of them, 7 per cent get diagnosis and treatment. So the large majority of people with MDR TB are undetected and suffer the disease and probably one third of that will die without any diagnosis and treatment."
Duration: 42"

Dr. Matteo Zignol, co-author of the report on MDR TB and XDR TB cut 3

"In this report we document highest proportion of MDR TB ever recorded and this is one part of Russia in the North West where one out of four patients that present to the health post with TB for the first time they have this serious form of disease. And this means that the bacteria circulate a lot in the community."
Duration: 31"

Dr. Matteo Zignol, co-author of the report on MDR TB and XDR TB cut 4

"On the other side, we state very clearly in this report that WHO knows how to deal with this disease and we have documented two nice stories from Russia again, another part of Russia where two three years ago we documented a rapid increase in the proportion of MDR TB and now we see a decline. In these two outposts Tomsk and Orel, they have put in place the measures that the international community recommends to deal with this disease, which is basically diagnose and treat normal TB and then as soon as a patient comes to the health post, do the test for MDR TB and then put them on treatment. This is basically what happens in the industrialized countries, in the U.S. and in Europe and we have seen this that it is possible to control MDR TB even in places like these two outposts where the problem is very very serious."
Duration: 57"

Dr. Matteo Zignol, co-author of the report on MDR TB and XDR TB cut 5

"To diagnose with this form of TB you need sophisticated laboratories and in Africa there are only two in South Africa and one in Algeria. But WHO and several other partners have a big project now with is funded by UNITAR, it's an 87 million dollars project. Basically it's in 27 countries throughout the world and the large majority of them are in Africa. The aim of the project is really to build laboratories and put infrastructure so that MDR TB and XDR TB can be diagnosed."
Duration: 32"