New dosages for TB patients

People suffering from tuberculosis (TB) are due to have their dosages of tablets reduced from between 11 and 12 to two or three daily, Tanzanian Health Minister Anna Abdallah announced on Thursday. "The prescribed dose for a TB patient at the moment is too heavy, especially for those taking other drugs such as HIV anti-retrovirals (ARVs)," she said in a message issued ahead of World TB Day on 24 March. The new dosage plan will be implemented in July, she said. However, she added that despite the dosage reduction, the effect of treatment would remain the high dosage the patients were on. The Health Ministry, together with other government authorities, is working on the possibility of reducing the period that patients would be on drugs. Currently, TB patients take the dosage for eight months. She said the number of TB patients in the country was growing at an alarming rate, from 39,000 in 1995 to 65,665 in 2003. Abdallah said many of those who reported early, representing 81 percent of all the patients, often recovered after treatment, while 10 percent died and 9 percent remained ill. Tanzania's government statistics for 2004 show that 63,687 new TB cases were reported from 19 of the country's 26 regions (including five Zanzibar regions). Statistics from other regions are still unavailable. "Studies conducted by the ministry have shown that HIV/AIDS contributed to 60 percent of the increase of TB cases in the country," Abdallah said. She also blamed the increase on the failure by some people to report the cases promptly, which she said led to the spread of infection. "TB is just like any other disease," she said. "It can be treated if you have HIV or not. We have enough TB experts in the country and what the patient needs is to follow instructions."