One Million People in East Asia, Pacific Region Infected With TB Fail To Seek Medical Treatment Annually, WHO Says

One million people in East Asia and the Pacific infected with tuberculosis fail to seek medical treatment every year, "fueling" the spread of the region's leading infectious disease killer, the World Health Organization said in a statement on Tuesday in advance of World TB Day on Thursday, the AP/Yahoo! Asia News reports. Undetected TB cases account for half of the approximately two million people who develop TB annually in the Western Pacific, and the disease kills 1,000 people daily in Asia, more deaths than from any other infectious disease, according to WHO. "It's tragic that so many people suffer silently with TB when there is, in fact, a cure that works," WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific Shigeru Omi said, adding, "The sick waste away slowly, suffer financial ruin and maybe infect family members." The low detection rates in the regions are in part because of poor public awareness, limited delivery of and access to medical care and a low quality of diagnostic services, according to the AP/Yahoo! Asia News. The agency also noted that the region has experienced an increase in multi-drug resistant TB strains, which make the disease more difficult to treat (AP/Yahoo! Asia News, 3/22). TB control staff in the region this year are aiming to improve detection rates and access to DOTS, the internationally recognized TB control strategy. WHO has set targets for 2005 of 100% access to DOTS, 70% detection rate and an 85% cure rate. In 2003, DOTS coverage reached 90% of cases in the Western Pacific and the 85% treatment success target already was met, according to WHO figures. However, the case detection rate was 52% during the same time period, meaning that a "greater effort" will be needed to reach WHO target levels, according to WHO, Xinhuanet reports (Xinhuanet, 3/22).