China beats global average in tackling TB cases

The annual reduction rate of tuberculosis cases in China since 2021 has reached 3 percent, doubling the global average level, health authorities said recently.

Liu Qing, an official at the National Disease Control and Prevention Administration, said at a recent conference that China's TB epidemic has been trending downward steadily and the mortality rate has remained at a relatively low level thanks to consistent financial investment and comprehensive disease control efforts.

The central leadership invested 1.27 billion yuan ($175 million) in tackling TB last year, compared with 40 million yuan in 2001, Liu said during an event held on Saturday ahead of this year's World Tuberculosis Day on Monday.

Meanwhile, China has included TB under a support mechanism in 2021 to improve reimbursement of outpatient medical expenses linked to chronic and special diseases, aiming to alleviate the financial burden on TB patients, said Liu.

Official data also reveals that China has identified and treated over 8 million pulmonary TB patients since 2012, maintaining a treatment success rate above 90 percent.

However, Liu emphasized that China still carries the third-highest burden globally, stressing the need for more efforts to strengthen active detection and standard management of TB patients, as well as promote the use of new prevention and control tools.