SAARC Epidemiological Response on Tuberculosis 2015

The SAARC Region continues to bear a significant burden of tuberculosis despite making significant progress in the global efforts to eliminate TB. Although notified TB cases have been steadily increasing, a decline in the prevalence is seen in all Member States, some reporting more than 50% decline since 1990. With good implementation of DOTS by Member States, the level of "multi-drug resistant" (MDR) TB among newly-detected cases is low. The year 2015 marks the deadline for global TB targets set in the context of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and is a year of transitions: from the MDGs to a new era of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and from the Stop TB Strategy to the End TB Strategy.

This report is an excellent review of the current status and future plans for the control of TB in the SAARC Region. It includes information on burden of tuberculosis in the SAARC region, including incidence, prevalence, mortality along with the MDR-TB, TB/HIV confection etc. It also covers the information of the year 2014 and has been prepared on the basis of information collected from member countries during the year 2015 and by reviewing other related documents.