World TB Day is observed on the 24th of March annually. Tuberculosis (TB) is the world’s deadliest infectious killer. Every day, almost 30,000 people fall ill due to TB and over 4,000 people lose their lives to TB. Global efforts to combat TB have save an estimated 58 million lives since TB is a preventable and curable disease. TB poses a lot of threats, and continues to challenge the public health systems in ASEAN Member States.
The ASEAN Member States represent a diverse and dynamic region, owing to the differences in demographic, epidemiological and socio-economic factors. However, gaps continue to exist between and within countries in the region, where six countries are on the WHO high burden TB list and three countries have a high TB/HIV burden. Various health determinants in different countries also showed a significant burden of TB.
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