Malabo (Equatorial Guinea) 31 August 2010 – WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Luis Sambo, has urged countries in the Region to take concrete steps to check the emergence and spread of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR – TB) and extensively resistant TB (XDR-TB), high priority TB complications which continue to pose serious health threats to people in the African Region.

MDR-TB is caused by bacteria that are resistant to at least isoniazid and rifampicin - the most effective anti-TB drugs. MDR-TB results from either primary infection with resistant bacteria or may develop in the course of a patient’s treatment. XDR-TB, on the other hand, is a form of TB caused by bacteria that are resistant to isoniazid and rifampicin as well as some second line medicines for treating TB.

In a report on to the 60th session of the WHO Regional Committee for Africa taking place from 30 August to 3 September in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, the Regional Director said that between January 2007 and December 2009, 33 Members States had notified 22, 032 cases of MDR-TB, while eight had notified 1501 cases of XDR-TB.

Dr Sambo stated that the challenges faced by countries in fighting MDR-TB and XDR-TB included unsatisfactory TB treatment success rates; general lack of infection control meas-ures in communities and health facilities; outdated policies, manuals and guidelines; inade-quate quality-assured laboratory services.

Others were weak surveillance of drug-resistant TB; weak standards of care; inadequate availability of second-line medicines; the long duration of treatment; high cost of treatment; and other health systems-related challenges such as limited access to general TB services and inadequate human resources for health.

Among the actions proposed by the Regional Director to Member States to face up to these challenges were : preventing the development of drug-resistant TB strains; developing and scaling up programmatic management of drug-resistant TB; establishing and sustaining na-tional drug-resistant TB surveillance systems; strengthening procurement and supply man-agement systems for second-line anti-TB medicines; developing and implementing TB infection control measures; mobilizing financial resources for supporting implementation of the recommended actions; expanding regional networks for diagnosis of MDR-TB and XDR-TB; and undertaking operational research.

According to The Global TB Control Report 2009, in 2007, the African Region, which accounted for an estimated 12% of the world population, contributed 22% of notified TB cases. Case notification rates have increased from 82:100,000 in 1990 to 158:100,000 in 2007.

An estimated 51% of TB patients tested in 2007 were HIV-positive, making HIV infection the single most important risk factor for TB incidence in the Region.

At its Fifty-third session in 2003, the WHO Regional Committee for Africa adopted a resolu-tion on scaling up interventions against HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria in the WHO African Region. Subsequently at its Fifty-fifth session in Maputo, Mozambique, in 2005, the Regional Committee declared TB an emergency in the African Region. 

For more information, please contact:

Technical contact

Dr Bah Keita WHO/AFRO, Brazzaville; Tel. + 47 241 39154; E-mail: keitab [at] afro.who.int

Media contact

Samuel T. Ajibola, WHO/AFRO, Brazzaville; Tel: (+242) 7700202; + 41 241 39378; E-mail: ajibolas [at] afro.who.int