Tuberculosis Control in the Western Pacific Region

The status of the tuberculosis (TB) epidemic and progress in control of the disease has been assessed annually since 1997. This report presents an overview of progress in reducing the burden of TB in the Western Pacific Region using data on disease burden and case notification in 2008 and treatment outcomes for patients registered in 2007. The data were collected from 36 countries and areas in the Region using the WHO standard form for reporting surveillance data. The report contains data trends on estimated TB prevalence and mortality, TB notifications by age group and sex, TB/HIV co-infection and other indicators of progress, including treatment outcomes and laboratory capacity and quality. This report presents data on multidrug resistant-TB from various drug resistance surveys from the countries and areas in the Region. The specific country profiles of countries with a high burden of TB provide country-specific information on progress of TB control. TB data and trends in the Pacific island countries and areas are also included in the report. A directory of partners in the countries with a high burden of TB in the Region is appended.