Tuberculosis control in pakistan: Current issues and challenges

ABSTRACT

Tuberculosis [TB] is a contagious disease, which spreads as a droplet infection. It is the leading killer of young adults worldwide. Each year, 8 million people develop active TB and 3 million die. The largest number of cases occurs in the South-East Asia Region, which accounts for 33% of incident cases globally. However, the estimated incidence per capita in Sub-Saharan Africa is nearly twice that of the South-East Asia, at 350 cases per 100,000 population. Overall, one-third of the world's population is currently infected with the TB bacillus and someone is newly infected with TB bacilli every second. HIV and TB form an even more lethal combination; TB is also a leading cause of death among HIV-positive people and accounts for about 13% of AIDS deaths worldwide. However, in Africa, HIV is the single most important factor determining the increased incidence of TB in the past 10 years. This is an Editorial