KUALA LUMPUR—One in three cases of tuberculosis in Asia-Pacific go undiagnosed, the WHO said Tuesday, as it approved a new machine that can identify multi-drug-resistant strains in just 90 minutes.
The machine, developed with the help of the Gates Foundation, is one of a number of tools being deployed to help identify more than 600,000 cases that go undetected in the region.
World Health Organization adviser Catharina Van Weezenbeek said the machine detects resistance to the powerful drug rifampicin, a process that would normally take up to six weeks in an advanced laboratory.
“The machine is the size of a cappuccino machine and is a standalone and can be made available at the district health office level, which means that we can now detect multi-drug strains of TB in just 90 minutes and much more accurately, quickly and cost-effectively,” she told Agence France-Presse.
Van Weezenbeek said that although WHO estimates there are 1.94 million TB cases in the Asia-Pacific, only 1.3 million of them go identified because of a lack of equipment and laboratory facilities.
“Those cases that are not diagnosed are continuing to spread the disease. The whole idea about TB control is not only to save people but to cut the chain of transmission before the situation worsens,” she said.
The Xpert MTB/RIF machine was developed earlier this year by the Foundation for Innovative new Diagnostics, a Geneva-based non-profit body funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Van Weezenbeek said the machine is now part of the WHO’s regional strategic plan to combat TB and will be deployed in areas with a high rate of multi-drug-resistant TB.
She said that along with other tools which are still in the approval process, they would “revolutionise” the detection of TB.
Although TB cases have fallen from 3.5 million in 2000 to 1.94 million cases in the region last year, the Asia-Pacific still accounts for 21 percent of cases globally last year.
Cambodia, China, the Philippines and Vietnam account for 93 percent of TB cases in the region. –Agence France-Presse
March –
IT’S WOMEN’S MONTH!
“Respect and support women
every day of the year/s!”
Invoke Article 33 of the ILO Constitution
against the military junta in Myanmar
to carry out the recommendations of the 2021 ILO Commission of Inquiry
against serious violations of protocols of
Forced Labour and Freedom of Association.
Accept the National Unity Government (NUG)
of Myanmar. Reject Military!
#WearMask #WashHands
#Report Corruption #SearchPosts #TakePicturesVideos
Monthly Observances:
Women’s Role in History Month
Weekly Observances:
Week 1: Environmental Week;
Women’s Week
Week 3: Philippine Industry and “
Made-in-the-Philippines Products Week
Last Week: Protection and Gender-Fair Treatment
of the Girl Child Week
Daily Observances:
March 8: Women’s Rights and
International Peace Day;
National Women’s Day
March 4: Employee Appreciation Day
March 15: World Consumer Rights Day
March 18: Global Recycling Day
March 21: International Day for the Elimination
of Racial Discrimination
March 23: International Day for the Right to the Truth
Concerning Gross Human Rights Violations
and for the Dignity of Victims
March 25: International Day of Remembrance of the
Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade
March 27: Earth Hour
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo.
