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Source:
www.moh.gov.sg
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Incidence Of Pulmonary Tuberculosis |
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Parliamentary QA |
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21 Apr 2008 |
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Question No: 548 |
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Question By: Dr Fatimah Lateef |
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To ask the Minister of Health with the high
incidence of pulmonary tuberculosis for a first world nation and a third
of the cases being amongst foreigners and work permit holders |
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(a) what is the Ministry’s course of action
and strategies to reduce the current 35.1 per 100,000 population
incidence to less than 20 per 100,000 population as in other first world
nations; and |
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(b) whether this figure will have a
bearing on our reputation as an international economic, financial
and healthcare hub. |
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Reply from MOH |
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Our tuberculosis (TB) incidence rate of 35
per 100,000 residents is indeed higher than the corresponding rates of
less than 20 in other developed countries. This is largely for
historical reason. TB has a long incubation period. A person can be
infected and only become ill many years later. |
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Up till the 1960s, TB was common in
Singapore. In 1960, for example, our TB incidence rate was 307 per
100,000 residents. This was nearly ten-fold the current rate. Some
elderly Singapore residents who were living then are now manifesting the
illness and contributing to the current incidence rate. |
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Last year, for example, the TB incidence
rate among our residents aged 60 years and above was 106 per 100,000.
The corresponding figure for Singapore residents below 20 years, for
instance was only 6 per 100,000. In other words, in terms of TB
incidence, our population is a mixture of both the first world and the
third world. |
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In time, our incidence rate would
match those in the other developed countries, although unlike
these countries, we will continue to have a more challenging task
as we have a large foreign worker population who come from
countries with high TB incidence. |
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Meanwhile, we will press on with our
TB control strategy of early detection, aggressive contact-tracing
and prompt treatment and complete cure for the adults. As a
preventive step, we also extend treatment to contacts of TB
patients who have latent infection so as to arrest the progress of
the disease. |
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I do not think our TB incidence rate
will tarnish our reputation as an international economic,
financial and healthcare hub. Indeed, our success in tackling TB
within a generation is often quoted as a reference for many
developing countries. We can be proud of this achievement. But we
should remain vigilant because our region has high TB incidence
and drug-resistant TB has become a major global problem. |
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Source:
www.moh.gov.sg News 21 Apr
2008 |
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FrontPage Edition: Tue 22 April 2008
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