While many infectious disease deserve attention globally, two that are particularly concerning among the countries of the Center’s region are tuberculosis and hepatitis C.
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, a disease caused by bacteria and transmitted through the air, kills more people worldwide than any infectious disease other than HIV/AIDS. In 2013, an estimated nine million people became ill with tuberculosis, and 1.5 million people died from tuberculosis. An estimated one million children suffered from the disease, with only a third of them diagnosed. Effective treatment for tuberculosis has existed for decades, but rising levels of drug resistance are making tuberculosis harder and more expensive to treat. Among the countries of the Center’s region, Bangladesh, Djibouti, Pakistan, the Philippines, Somalia, and South Africa have the highest incidences rates of tuberculosis, each with more than 200 new cases annually for every 100,000 people in the population.
Globally, drug-resistant tuberculosis is a particularly serious problem in Eastern European and Central Asian countries. In Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Uzbekistan, around 20–30% of new tuberculosis patients have multidrug-resistant tuberculosis, which is resistant to the two most effective anti-tuberculosis medications.
Hepatitis C
The hepatitis C virus attacks the liver and can cause both mild and severe illness. Once infected, some people are able to eliminate the virus without treatment, while others develop chronic infection, which can lead to cirrhosis or liver cancer. Around 130–150 million people worldwide have chronic hepatitis C infection. While treatment for hepatitis C is not always necessary, effective antiviral medication exists. However, for many people, the cost of treatment is currently prohibitive.
Globally, around 3% of the population is estimated to be infected with hepatitis C virus. The Middle East/North Africa region and the Central and East Asia regions have higher prevalences of hepatitis C virus infection than other parts of the world. Incomplete information exists on the prevalence of infection in individual countries of the Center’s region.