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23 Mar 2004
Tuberculosis (TB) remains a major public health problem around the world. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared TB a "Global Emergency" and has designated 24 March as World TB Day. WHO estimates that globally, TB kills about 5,000 people a day or 2 million people a year.
TB is an air borne disease transmitted through respiratory droplets from a person with the disease. Persons with TB disease may have a prolonged cough and blood in the sputum. They may also have fever, night sweats, loss of weight and appetite and feel tired and fatigued easily. TB can be cured with proper treatment consisting of at least 3 different drugs to be taken regularly for 6 to 9 months. Persons who do not complete the full course of treatment or are irregular with treatment may not be cured and continue to be infectious and may develop drug resistant TB. They also have an increased risk of suffering a relapse of TB in the future.
Situation in Singapore
In 2003, the incidence rate of TB declined to 40.8 new cases per 100,000 resident population, from 42.2 per 100,000 in 2002. There were 1,403 new cases of TB in 2003. Men accounted for 958 (68.3%) of new TB cases in Singapore. About 58.7% of the cases were aged 50 years and above. During the year, there were 83 TB deaths, accounting for 0.5% of total deaths.
Ministry's Advice
Tuberculosis is a curable disease. Treatment is most successful when patients take every dose of the medications faithfully for the entire course of the treatment. At least 6 months of regular treatment is required to successfully treat the disease. If properly followed, the treatment regime will result in a cure.
The Ministry would like to advise persons who have been exposed to TB or who have symptoms of the disease (prolonged cough, blood in the sputum, fever, night sweats, loss of weight and appetite, tiredness and fatigue) to consult a doctor as soon as possible. This will allow treatment to be started early if TB is diagnosed. Early treatment benefits both the patient and the community. Once regular treatment is commenced, the risk of infecting others is very much reduced. Thus, the risk of such persons spreading TB to their loved ones will be minimised.
The Ministry also advises all persons diagnosed with tuberculosis to follow the advice of their doctor, and to complete treatment for tuberculosis. WHO recommends Directly Observed Treatment (DOT) as the method of treatment for patients with TB. Under DOT, all doses of the TB medications are administered and observed to be swallowed by trained healthcare workers. In Singapore, TB patients on DOT would attend the Polyclinics on a regular basis (daily or 3 times a week) for treatment. At the polyclinics, trained nurses will observe patients taking the correct dosage and combination of tuberculosis medications. MOH seeks the co-operation of employers to accommodate workers who need to attend DOT at the polyclinics. In this way, Singapore can protect its community from spread of TB and drug resistant disease.
Members of the public who wish to find out more about tuberculosis may obtain more information at the Health Promotion Board website.