related links | ||
 | Every hour, 49 people are diagnosed with and 7 die from tuberculosis. Are health systems failing to save them? | |
| Press release, 17 March 2008 | ||
| "I am stopping TB" | |
| Four Europeans explain how | ||
| TB and the WHO European Region 2008: the facts | |
| WHO/Europe factsheet | ||
| World TB Day poster | |
| (WHO/Europe) | ||
| Country activities | |
| Activities of selected European Member States to commemorate World TB Day | ||
| Country profiles | |
| TB key indicators, notification and treatment outcome data, and budget and financing graphs | ||
| Stop TB Partnership [external link] | |
| WHO headquarters | ||
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According to the 2008 WHO global TB report, there were an estimated 433 261 new TB cases, 282 041 cures and 62 197 deaths from TB in the WHO European Region in 2006: 49 new cases, 32 cures and 7 deaths every hour.
TB is a Region-wide pandemic. In 2006, European Union (EU) countries reported 81 600 TB cases, and Kazakhstan, Romania, the Russian Federation, Turkey, Ukraine and Uzbekistan accounted for 72% of the TB burden in the Region. The Russian Federation is 11th among the 22 countries in the world with the highest TB burden.
TB is a leading killer among HIV-infected people with weakened immune systems. In 2006, 12 842 new TB cases were estimated to have occurred in HIV-positive adults.
Health systems in many countries in the Region struggle to meet the needs of TB patients and are too short of funds and staff to ensure good surveillance and control of multidrug-resistant and extensively drug-resistant TB (MDR-TB and XDR-TB).
Based on the recently launched fourth report on surveillance of resistance to anti-TB drugs, WHO estimates that 490 000 cases of MDR-TB occur each year worldwide, including 82 000 in the European Region.
As a member of the Stop TB Partnership for Europe launched in October 2006, WHO/Europe is strongly involved in the fight against TB in the Region and now hosts the Partnership’s secretariat. The Partnership aims to engage key European stakeholders in promoting a more robust response to the Region’s epidemic. The goal is to halve TB prevalence and deaths by 2015, compared with 1990 levels. WHO/Europe’s commitment is expressed through technical knowledge and the ability to work with policy-makers.
In collaboration with partners, WHO/Europe held the WHO European Ministerial Forum “All against Tuberculosis” in Berlin, Germany on 22 October 2007. The participants endorsed WHO/Europe’s “Plan to Stop TB in 18 High-priority countries in the WHO European Region, 2007–2015” and adopted The Berlin Declaration on Tuberculosis.
The Plan focuses on: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Romania, the Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. It is intended to guide these countries in developing their national plans on TB, and to serve as a reference for WHO/Europe and all other partners.
Scientists, researchers and activists are all invited to share their experiences and advice with WHO/Europe to help shape the future of the fight against TB. Politicians and other stakeholders are strongly encouraged to include the fight against TB in their agendas and to help WHO/Europe raise public awareness and funds. Combating TB needs thorough support from the whole community.
