This was stated by Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan at the 18^th  Coordinating Board Meeting of the Global Stop TB Partnership in Hanoi on May 4.

The Partnership’s activities have met the urgent need for preventing this dangerous disease and have enabled people to share the responsibility for controlling TB throughout the world.

Due to its own geographical and climatic characteristics, Vietnam finds it difficult in detect and control TB, said Mr Nhan.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), Vietnam now ranks 12^th among 20 nations suffering from TB in the world, with approximately 150,000 TB patients and 12,000 TB and HIV infections detected annually.

The rise in TB cases is put down to ineffective measures to control the disease, drug abuse by HIV-infected young people, a shortage of medical workers and a failure by patients to abide by treatment methods.