I did not realize that such a large number of Armenians have tuberculosis, or that it was a threat at all.
“This program will run from 2007 through 2015,” said Vahan Poghosian, a senior Armenian Health Ministry official coordinating the anti-TB campaign. “It will involve training courses [for medical personnel], purchase of laboratory equipment and, most importantly, medicines.”According to the source, it costs more than $12,000 to treat someone with tuberculosis. I'm by no means an expert, but wouldn't it be more cost-effective to vaccinate the general population - at least those at risk - than to wait for them to get infected and then try to do something about it?
According to the Health Ministry, the number of people suffering from tuberculosis rose by 18 percent to almost 6,500 between 2000 and 2005.
It was not immediately clear how much the Armenian government plans to spend on its the latest program adopted by ministers at a weekly cabinet meeting. Officials said only that much of the funding for, $7.5 million, will come from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. The government of Germany, for its part, will contribute almost $3 million to the effort.
Source: ArmeniaLiberty
1 comment:
Yes prevention by vaccines etc are more cost effective, but unfortunately there are no such vaccines. No major breakthrough in TB prevention or cure has taken place for decades as TB is no longer a major issue in "developed nations" and hence not profitable for the industry to invest in.
So for now it has to be a multi pronged strategy to prevent as much as possible by increasing awareness, improving health seeking behaviour of public (timely treatment of normal TB is cheaper and shorter, whereas resistant forms longer and more expensive), and ofcourse treating existing TB patients as its not only a humanrights issue issue to be treated but also from public health point of view to prevent further transmission of TB that will multiply the burden of the disease on society. Also treating TB cases at such high costs (by the way the high costs are for resistant forms of TB not for regular TB), it is to highlight to the national and international stakeholders that there is need to invest in better drugs, diagnostics and services for TB patients. Moreover these drugs are coming free of cost to the countries affected through international sources like WHO etc.
Besides TB is a multi-dimension problem with huge social factors also, which if addressed will have huge impact- poverty related issues. In the West TB has been conquered more because of rise in prosperity than drugs which has been the same everywhere. This is an important reason for a concerted multi-sector response for TB.
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