MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Peru admits 32.477 TB cases as part of the campaign to combat the disease

Carlos Acosta is coordinating the campaign in Lima

Peru has 37% of all multi-resistant tuberculosis cases in the Americas and one in four patients of the disease abandon medication in a mild stage of the disease according to the World Health Organization.

The Peruvian Health ministry has 32.477 cases of TB registered nationwide of which 1.050 belong to the multi-resistant strain which means normal pharmaceutical products are innocuous.

With this number of patients Peru is second in Latinamerica as to patients with TB, behind Brazil which has 81.946 declared cases according to WHO data.

In Peru 24% of the multi-resistant cases (one in four) are patients that presented a TB sensitive situation previously and abandoned treatment according to WHO.

“At this stage Peru is making a tremendous effort in cataloguing patients according to whether they are sensitive or resistant, because with so many multi resistant cases it’s no time for games” said Anna Volz, WHO TB program representative

To these cases must be added 56 registered at national level with TBC, the ‘extra resistant strain’ which has a recovery rate of 30% to 40%.

“Peru is making great efforts in identifying patients with TBC” through massive media campaigns launched this year said the head of Medical Services from the Heath Ministry.

“Lima breathes life. All together against TB” is the campaign launched in a joint effort by six ministries says Carlos Acosta who admits that in the past “for a country to admit it had so many TB cases would be an international embarrassment”.

However, “Peru is probably the only country that has had the courage to come forward and admit how many TB cases it has” so that it can face the problem head on affirmed Acosta.