Adopt tailored solutions to eliminate TB by 2030: WHO

Male/New Delhi, Sep 10 (IANS) The World Health Organisation (WHO) has told the South East Asian countries to integrate their national plans and mobilise and utilise resources efficiently to reach the Tuberculosis elimination target of 2030, a statment said on Sunday.

The WHO South East Asia Region includes India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, North Korea, Indonesia, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Timor-Leste.

The global health body said that there is a need for countries to identify the package of interventions best suited to their challenges -- whether that means focusing on strengthening TB services, accelerating case detection or investing in research and development.

"All countries face unique challenges, meaning they should each adapt the regional and global strategies to their context," said a statement issued by the WHO's South East Asia Region Office.

"We must avoid taking one-size-fits-all approach, and must instead seek out and embrace tailored solutions that meet specific needs and challenges."

The five-day 70th Regional Committee Session of WHO South East Asia Region concluded in Male on Sunday.

According to the global health body, by planning effectively and making smart, high-impact interventions, countries across the Southeast Asia Region can lift TB's significant burden and end the disease as a public health threat once and for all.

Although the region accounts for approximately one quarter of the world's population, it has nearly half the number of new TB cases and close to 40 per cent of TB deaths globally.

In recognition of TB's outsized burden, accelerating progress towards the 2030 target -- which requires a 90 per cent reduction in TB deaths and 80 per cent decrease in TB incidence -- is now one of WHO South-East Asia Region's flagship priority areas of work.

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