TB Control in Prisons

Abstract

According to WHO, in 2010, there were 8.8 million (range, 8.5-9.2 million) incident cases of TB and 1.1 million (range, 8.5-9.2 million) deaths from TB among HIV-negative cases and an additional 0.35 million (range, 0.32-0.39) deaths from HIV-associated TB (WHO 2011). An examination of the map of estimated incidence rates by country and the breakdown of national figures in social strata rapidly reveals that global statistics conceal profound inequalities in the present intraand inter-country distribution of the disease. Ninety-five percent of the global TB disease and TB death burden is found in poor countries. In highly industrialized countries, TB is currently limited to socially marginalized and other poor high-risk groups such as IV drug users, migrants from developing countries, and, over the past 30 years, HIV-infected persons.