The Ministry of Health indicated that the National Program to combat tuberculosis in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia managed to reduce the rate of tuberculosis cases by 21% during the current year compared to 2015.
The ministry declared that the program also succeeded in reducing the death rate by 12.3% compared to 2015. While the success rate of treating tuberculosis cases reached 89.5% during (2021), and the number of cases that were followed up by the field teams for the year 2022 in Riyadh, Makkah Al Mukarramah, Madinah, Asir, Jazan, Al Sharqiyah, and Jeddah was (1622 cases).
The National Tuberculosis Control Program virtually activated the World Tuberculosis Day, which fell on March 24, in the presence of (233) health staff.
On this same day in 1882 AD, Robert Koch announced the discovery of the bacteria that cause tuberculosis, which paved the way for the diagnosis and treatment of the disease. The goal of this day is to raise public awareness about the devastating health, social and economic consequences of tuberculosis, and to intensify efforts to eradicate this epidemic.
Tuberculosis is one of the deadliest infectious diseases in the world. Every day, nearly 4,000 people lose their lives due to this disease, while nearly 28,000 people are infected with this disease which can be prevented and cured. Global efforts to combat tuberculosis have saved an estimated 63 million lives since 2000.