At the ceremony, Minister of Health Dao Hong Lan stated that statistics show that the number of tuberculosis patients detected and reported annually in Vietnam only accounts for about 60 percent of the estimated number of tuberculosis patients. Of these, up to 98 percent of tuberculosis patients suffer multidrug resistance whose families have to pay high costs, exceeding 20 percent of their families' annual income.
The Minister of Health affirmed that this year's theme of World Tuberculosis Prevention Day demonstrates the high determination of people from all walks of life, organizations, authorities, ministries and the Vietnamese Government in the fight against tuberculosis in Vietnam.
Vietnam is committed to working with the world to end tuberculosis globally. Although it is a big goal, Vietnam strives to achieve because it can save tens of thousands of Vietnamese lives every year, said Minister Dao Hong Lan.
According to the National Tuberculosis Program, Vietnam is the country with the 11th highest burden of tuberculosis and multidrug-resistant tuberculosis among the 30 countries with the highest number of infected people and the highest burden of tuberculosis globally.
The World Health Organization estimates that each year Vietnam has 172,000 new people infected with tuberculosis and approximately 13,000 Vietnamese people lose their lives to TB, higher than the number of deaths from traffic accidents.
In particular, each year, the country has about 9,200 new cases of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis, accounting for 4.5 percent of the group of new tuberculosis patients and 15 percent of the group who have been treated. Compared to the North and Central regions, the tuberculosis epidemic in the South is much more severe, especially in the Mekong Delta provinces.
