Newspaper article summary - Assignment Example

New Tuberculosis Cases Down New research conducted by the U.N. agency reported that the number of new TB infection has gone down in 2013 compared to 2010. The number of new infections dropped from 8.8 million to 8.7 million (Associated Press, 2012). Despite the reduced number of new infection, the number of deaths attributed to tuberculosis has remained constant. The WHO has raised concern over the increasing reported numbers of drug resistant strain of the disease. Prevalence of drug resistant strain of TB is attributed to improper treatment of the regular strain of the disease.

The distribution of reported cases of TB varies across the world. Carol Holtz’s ‘Global Health Care: Issues and policies’, gives qualitative reasons behind this uneven distribution. Holtz investigates how different geographical regions influence the prevalence of various types of diseases. The highest numbers of reported TB cases are in Eastern Europe and Central Asia; WHO attributes this rampant spread of the disease to intravenous drug users and poor health infrastructures. Africa has the highest number of deaths directly attributed to tuberculosis: It is estimated that 25% of the reported TB cases in the world are in Africa.

The spread of the epidemic is fueled by the high number of HIV infections across Africa. Cultures and stereotypes stigmatize HIV victims, the infected persons fail to visit medical centers and in turn increase the likelihood of the disease spreading.The least affected regions are Western Europe, Middle East and Americas. This can be attributed to access to access to treatment facilities and effective public sensitization. ReferencesHoltz, C. (2008). Global health care: Issues and policies. Sudbury, Massachusetts: Jones & Bartlett Publishers.

Associated Press (2012, October 17). WHO: New tuberculosis cases down. http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2012/10/17/world-health-organization-tuberculosis/1639131/