Lima, 26 nov (EFE).-Peru has “37 per cent of cases of multi-resistente tuberculosis in the Americas” and one of every four patients of this disease had left medication received a mild stage of the disease, said a representative of the World Health Organization (who) today.
The Peruvian Health Ministry records currently 32.477 cases of tuberculosis, of which 1,050 are of the type multi-resistente, i.e., that the first-line drugs do not do effect.
With that figure, Peru ranks second in Latin America in charge of patients after Brazil, which has 81.946 cases, according to figures from the who.
24% Of the multi-resistentes cases in Peru (i.e. one out of four) are patients who previously had sensitive TB and abandoned treatment, according to figures from the who.
“At this level, the country is doing a terrible effort to categorize patients so that they know whether the patient is sensitive or resistant, because with both multi-resistente case you can not play,” he told Efe the representative of the Tuberculosis Programme of who, Anna Volz.
These patients joined the 56 cases registered at the national level at present patients with tuberculosis (TB) extremely multi-resistente who have an average rate of healing from 30% to 40% of.
According to Volz, the “Peru is putting much effort in capturing of patients with TB”, through campaigns such as released by the Government this year, “Lima breathes life.” “Together against TB,” in which six ministries joined together to fight against the disease.
In the opinion of the director-general of health of the Ministry of health, Carlos Acosta, “in the past, tell a country had many TB was a disgrace,”.
, “Peru has been perhaps the only country that has had the courage to say how many TB really has” in order to face this problem of public health, said Acosta to Efe.
The Ministry of health carries out campaigns of discarding and free care in all State hospitals at a cost per patient of $40 to 45 for cases of sensitive TB, $4,000 to 4,500 cases of multi-resistente TB and more than $48,000 for the patients of multi-resistente CBT extreme.
The budget of five million dollars a year from 2009 to address these cases rose to 25 million dollars this year and will be of $ 51 million in 2012 to combat the disease.
According to Acosta, “tuberculosis is a social disease, who came from poverty.” “It is the result of a social system unequal and, at its root, they are the living conditions of persons”.
For its part, the representative of who emphasized the need to identify infected persons to cut the chain of transmission.
“50% Of people with tuberculosis which are not dealt with die within two years.” “When death will have left 24 people infected, and of these, two or three people will develop the disease”, assured Volz.
“If we have also improved the level of wealth of the country, as is the level of wealth of the population and that this population with that money also live better”, felt Acosta. EFE
