HEALTH experts are calling for tuberculosis (TB) to be declared as a public health emergency in Papua New Guinea after a seven-month study into TB infection rates found that many people in rural areas are dying from the disease without ever being diagnosed.
The PNG Institute of Medical Research study says rural areas of PNG have some of the highest incidences of TB in the world.
Researcher Dr Suparat Phuanukoonnon says TB is poorly understood in the country, and many people die from TB without it ever being diagnosed.
“… has been neglected and the health system is also not functioning very well so a lot of TB basically just sitting there in a rural area, in the village and have never been diagnosed, never been treated, so when we actually conducted our study, you see that we probably have a world-class TB rate,” she told Pacific Beat.
Dr Phuanukoonnon is calling on the government to treat TB as seriously as it does HIV/AIDS, and declare the situation a national emergency.
“You see how well HIV in Papua New Guinea has been controlled… basically we would like to see TB get that kind of political commitment, funding and support from outside,” she said.
