Vietnam aims to stamp out tuberculosis by 2034

The National Lung Hospital, the National Tuberculosis (TB) Control Programme and the Patients Support Foundation to End Tuberculosis (PASTB) jointly organised a ceremony on March 22 in Hanoi to respond to World Tuberculosis Day on March 24.

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The organisers launch a text message campaign to call for aid for TB patients.

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Minister Dao Hong Lan stands alongside other leaders to participate in the ceremony held in the capital in response to World Tuberculosis Day.

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Dinh Van Luong, director of the National Lung Hospital and head of the Executive Board of the Vietnam Tuberculosis Prevention and Control Project, shares that Vietnam is currently ranked 11th among 30 countries worldwide with the highest rate of TB and multidrug-resistant TB.

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In 2023, the country detected a total of 106,086 TB patients and recorded around 13,000 related deaths, with the successful treatment rate being maintained at a high level of over 90%. Despite this success, there are still more than 40% of TB patients in the community who have not been detected and treated, Luong noted.

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Angela Pratt, a representative of the World Health Organisation (WHO) in Vietnam, appreciates the country’s efforts in TB prevention and control.

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Addressing the event, Minister Lan stresses that most of TB patients are of working age, meaning that the disease is really a problem affecting the economy of each family in particular and the country in general. As a result, investing in ending TB can be seen as investing in sustainable development.