I’m Shep O'Neal with the VOA Special English Health
Report.
Almost two million
people every year die from tuberculosis .
Almost nine million develop new cases.
Experts say about one-third of the world’s population is infected with
TB. People who are infected might never develop an active case. They might never
get sick from the infection. But enough do get sick that the World
Health Organization declared tuberculosis a worldwide emergency in
1993.
Southeast Asia has the largest number of new TB cases. But southern Africa
has the highest rates of the disease, almost two times that of Asia.
Last week the W.H.O. released a progress report for World TB Day, observed
each year on March 24. The report praises twenty-six countries
worldwide for meeting their goals on tuberculosis control. They include Vietnam
and the Philippines. Both have high TB rates.
Still, the report says the number of cases worldwide is rising 1% a
year as a result of the TB crisis in Africa. TB kills more than five hundred
thousand people there every year. W.H.O. officials praised Kenya for emergency
measures. But they say African leaders need to invest more to control
tuberculosis.
TB is the leading cause of death among people with H.I.V. and AIDS. More
than 27 million people in Africa are infected with H.I.V, the virus that
causes AIDS. People with H.I.V. lose their natural resistance to disease.
TB is a bacterial infection. It is spread through the
air when a person with an active case coughs or sneezes
. Possible signs include a bad cough for three
weeks or more and pain in the chest. Others are coughing up blood and sweating
at night.
Tuberculosis can be cured with medicines. In many countries, though, experts
say incorrect or incomplete treatment of TB is creating drug-resistant forms.
They say drug-resistant TB is now in almost every country and is hurting
worldwide success rates.
In January, the Global Plan to Stop TB was launched. This
is a ten-year plan. It calls for countries to invest 56 thousand million
dollars to help nations identify and treat new cases. Officials say the first new
TB drug in forty years could be ready in 2010. The World Health
Organization says the Global Plan to Stop TB, if fully supported, could save 14 million
lives.
This VOA Special English Health Report was written by Cynthia Kirk. Read and
listen to our reports at voaspecialenglish.com. I’m Shep O'Neal.
tuberculosis : 肺結核
sneeze : 打噴嚏
