Matters arising from WHO’s declaration of MDR-TB as crisis
By: Chioma Umeha Wednesday, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared multi drug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) a ‘public health crisis’ – and released an evidence-packed report to prove it. A lot has been written about what can be done to curb the spread of ‘virtually untreatable tuberculosis’ announced by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. However, the release of the world health body’s annual global TB report two days ago should be the data-filled nudge that demands everyone’s effort. The persistent creep of drug-resistant tuberculosis continues unabated. Here is a quick breakdown: • About one in five of the 94,000 people diagnosed with MDR-TB (resistant to two of most commonly used drugs in the current four-drug regimen) are not being treated. • Only about half of those being treated for drug-resistant TB are successfully completing treatment. Trends suggest this gap is only increasing. • 10 percent of these cases are morphing into extensively d