Speaking at the launching of the Ethiopian National TB Prevalence Survey Dissemination workshop here on Thursday, Dr. Tedros said the prevalence of TB has declined below that of the World Health Organization’s (WHO's) estimated number.
The minister said the number of TB infected among 100,000 people decreased to 105 from 284 and the number of people caught by the disease reduced to 265 from 579.
The survey has been completed successfully as per the requirement of the WHO , Dr. Tedros said.
Deputy Director-General of the Ethiopian Health and Nutrition Research Institute, Dr. Amha Kebede on his part said encouraging results have been registered in controlling prevalence of TB in Ethiopia .
The survey selected a total of 4,620 individuals aged 15 and above in 63 rural, 14 urban and eight pastoral clusters in the country, the director said.
Of the total, 39 percent of the respondents never heard about TB, whereas, the remaining have knowledge about it, Dr. Amha said.
In general, the respondents have given sufficient information about TB but they lack comprehensive knowledge to develop proper attitude to prevent TB and translate it to practice, he said.
In the efforts of controlling the disease, 84 percent of TB patients have got access to medical service, Dr. Amha said, adding, the country has already achieved 70 percent of WHO's health target goals in controlling prevalence of TB disease.
USAID and WHO cover the cost for efforts to control prevalence of TB in the country.
The overall objective of nationwide Knowledge, Attitude and Practice Survey on TB is to understand the awareness level, perception and health seeking behavior of the community towards TB.
The survey was organized along with the first national population based TB prevalence survey in Ethiopia from October 2010 to June 2011 with systematically selected 85 clusters in the country, according to information made available at the event.
Source:
http://www.ena.gov.et/EnglishNews/2011/Dec/15Dec11/156399.htm
