Tuberculosis quick facts

Illustrated through drawings from children across the Region

Philippines

Papua New Guinea

Did you know that…

TB spreads through the air, but only people who are sick with TB in their lungs (pulmonary TB) are infectious.

Mongolia

One-third of the world's population is currently infected with TB germs (bacilli)..

…but only 5-10% of people infected will become sick with the disease.

Mongolia

The immune system "walls off" TB bacilli which, protected by a thick waxy coat, can lie dormant in the body for years.

Philippines

Philippines

People with HIV/AIDS are much more likely to develop TB after infection due to their weakened immune systems. TB is a leading cause of death among people who are HIV-positive.

Left untreated, each person with active TB disease will infect on average between 10 and 15 people every year.

Mongolia

• 95% of TB deaths are in the developing world.

• The largest number of new TB cases in 2010 occurred in Asia, which accounted for 59% of new cases globally.

• 4 of the 22 TB high-burden countries are in the Western Pacific Region (Cambodia, China, Philippines, Viet Nam).

• An estimated 1.4 million people died from TB in 2010, including 320,000 deaths among women and 350,000 people with HIV. This is equal to 3,800 deaths a day.Philippines

• Until 70 years ago, there were no medicines to cure TB. No new anti-TB drugs have been developed in nearly 50 years.

• Drug-resistant TB is man-made, caused when patients do not take all their medicines regularly.

• Drugs to treat resistant TB are more expensive than standard TB drugs and can cause more severe side-effects (though these are manageable).

• Strains that are resistant to at least one drug have been documented in every country surveyed. Philippines

• The absolute number of new TB cases has been falling slowly since 2006 (from 9.4 million in 2009 to 8.8 million in 2010).

• 46% of HIV-positive TB patients were enrolled on antiretrovirals and 77% started on co-trimoxazole preventive treatment in 2010. Philippines

Fiji

Since 1995, 46 million people have been successfully treated and up to 6.8 million lives saved through DOTS and the Stop TB Strategy.

Mongolia

Viet Nam

Research and development:

There are “point-of-care” tests in the pipeline, 10 TB drugs in trials, and 10 vaccine candidates for the prevention of TB in Phase I or Phase

II trials. A new, revolutionary diagnostic tool (Xpert MTB/RIF) has been developed and is being used in 47 countries.

Viet Nam Viet Nam

Lao PDR

The world as a whole is on track toachieving the MDG target of reversing the incidence of TB.

Cambodia

Hand-in-hand we can fight for a World Free of TB.