Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB) continues to be an important contributor to overall disease burden and preventable death in nearly all developing countries. TB kills around 70,000 people a year in Bangladesh, and around two million worldwide. Bangladesh’s burden of disease from tuberculosis ranks number 6 in the world, being home to an estimated 300,000 new cases per year. This is despite the considerable progress Bangladesh has recently made in delivering TB services. Not surprisingly, the problem of drug resistant TB is also on the increase in the country.
There is limited systematically collected epidemiologic data from Bangladesh. While directly observed treatment, short-course (DOTS) is provided by the government, with assistance from NGOs, effective control of the disease burden is hampered by the fact that only 46% of cases are detected. ICDDR,B’s researchers are therefore working to better understand the epidemiology and basic microbiology of M. tuberculosis in order to find ways to control it.
Highlights
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