Childhood TB on the rise, says WHO

THE World Health Organisation in PNG has warned that the worsening of TB problem in adults is leading to a rapid rise of childhood TB in the country.
It warned that urgent and effective action is necessary to lessen the burden of childhood TB.
At the same time, WHO noted that until now the National Tuberculosis Programme (NTP) has been unable to include the management of childhood TB as part of its routine operation.
In its latest newsletter WHO in PNG, it said the country “is far from achieving the global and national TB control targets”.
“The NTP is detecting only about 20% of the estimated new sputum smear positive cases under the DOTS (directly observe treatment short-course) strategy and treating only about 60% of them successfully, against the target of 70% and 85%, respectively.”
The organisation said it would help the country to procure child-friendly high quality TB drug formulations that are easily dispersed in liquids.
WHO said to address the worsening TB problem, the National Department of Health (NDoH) last September signed an historic grant agreement with Global Fund for AIDS, TB and Malaria.
WHO, which has played a significant role in helping NDoH obtain this grant, said a grant of US$21 million (K61.5 million) would help in a phased expansion of the Stop TB strategy across the country over the next five years.