BSS, Dhaka :
Diabetes triples the risk that a person will develop tuberculosis, claimed a new report by the International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union) and the World Diabetes Foundation.
The report that screened TB patients in a South Asian country for diabetes mellitus (DM) showed significantly higher rates of diabetes among TB patients than the general population and cautions against a co-epidemic of TB and diabetes.
The report ‘The Looming Co-epidemic of TB-Diabetes: A Call to Action’ was launched at a session of a five day long conference titled, ‘The 45th Union World Conference on Lung Health’ that started in Barcelona in Spain that started on October 28 and will be ended on November 1, said a press release.
“Diabetes is skyrocketing globally, projected to increase from 382 million cases in 2013 to 592 million cases in 2035,” the report said.
The report cautioned, if the trend of TB patients with diabetes going unnoticed, the consequence will be increased.
The report synthesized evidence from the medical and scientific literature, promotes an international policy framework for action, and lays out a new research agenda to fill knowledge gaps.
It challenged the conventional approach of health policy-making, which said infectious diseases and non-communicable (or “chronic”) diseases are independent.
According to World Health Organisation (WHO) in 2010, “TB is an infectious disease of the lungs, affects 9.4 million people and kills 1.7 million worldwide every year.”
“If we don’t act now to head this off, we’re going to experience a co-epidemic of TB-diabetes that will impact millions and sap public health systems of precious resources,” said member of the Board of Directors of the World Diabetes Foundation, Dr. Anil Kapur.
“We saw something similar happen with TB and HIV/AIDS to what is happening now with TB and diabetes,” said Dr. Anthony Harries, Senior Adviser to The Union as the risk of developing TB is 26 to 31 times greater in people living with HIV than among those without HIV infection.
Six of the top 10 countries projected to have the greatest numbers of people living with diabetes by the year 2035 — China, India, Brazil, Indonesia, Pakistan, and the Russian Federation-are classified as high TB-burden countries by the World Health Organization.
The IEDCR Director Mahmudur Rahman told BSS, “Tuberculosis Prevalence Survey will be started soon in the country with the support of World Health Organisation to present a fresh TB affected patients percentage.
According to National Tuberculosis Control Project (NPT), “TB is a serious public health problem in Bangladesh.
