Innovative Cambodia method could curb TB cases

17 September 2013
Mumbai Mirror
Health care policy and administration / Priority health concerns / Public health / Social development / Tuberculosis
Atlanta school / Centre for Disease Control and Prevention / Harvard School of Public Health / Sion Hospital / Sujata Baweja / World Health Organisation (WHO)

A fast-track approach in identifying patients with tuberculosis (TB) may help tackle the spread of the disease in the city. …

Currently, the WHO-approved model is practiced in Cambodia to reduce the burden of TB. “The idea is to identify patients who come into hospital with a cough. …

Cambodia had one of the highest cases of TB in the world, with 1500 cases per 1,00,000 people in 2002, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). After implementing the screening method, the number of cases, the number of cases dropped by 45 per cent in 2012. The Cambodian model is the same at mentioned in the WHO policy on TB infection control in health care settings. The policy states that people suspected of having pulmonary TB should be ‘fast tracked’ for rapid diagnosis and if possible, they should be directed to a separate waiting area. …

 Jyoti Shelar
http://www.mumbaimirror.com/mumbai/others/Innovative-Cambodia-method-could-curb-TB-cases/articleshow/22642784.cms