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HONG KONG: Tuberculosis (TB) remains one of the top infectious
diseases in Hong Kong as an average of 270 people were killed by the
epidemic annually in the metropolis during recent years, a senior
health official said here Sunday.
Speaking at a ceremony marking the annual World
TB Day, Dr. Gloria Tam, the Acting Director of Health, said that it
would be incorrect to think that the disease was something of the
past and had no local relevance.
According to the Department of Health’s
figures, 6,000 new TB cases were reported annually in Hong Kong,
whose socio-economic developments and public health efforts were
among one of the world developed regions.
Dr. Tam said nearly nine million new cases and
more than 1. 5 million deaths were reported worldwide each year,
stressing the importance of setting March 24 each year to be the
World TB Day by the World Health Organization (WHO).
“While there may be growing interest in other
infectious and chronic diseases for whatever reasons, I urge people
not to lose sight of TB,” she said, adding: “that everyone can
do something to stop TB, and every individual action counts.”
The WHO had selected “I am stopping TB” as
the slogan for World TB Day 2008, marking the start of a two-year
campaign appealing for a concerted effort of people around the world
to stop the epidemic.
-- Xinhua
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