Australia's role in promoting and supporting tuberculosis control in the Western Pacific Region.

Abstract

Twenty-one percent of the world's tuberculosis cases are found in the Western Pacific Region. The region has demonstrated a lower rate of decline in incidence than the regions of Africa, the Americas and Europe. Issues around drug resistance, human immunodeficiency virus and diabetes impact on the burden of tuberculosis disease in the Western Pacific Region. Australia has exhibited a low and relatively stable tuberculosis incidence rate but has not progressed toward the desired international goal for tuberculosis elimination (<1 case per million population). The pathogenesis and transmission of tuberculosis make it difficult to achieve elimination within a geographically defined area. These aspects of disease control are amplified by globalisation and Australia's increasing economic and strategic engagement within the Western Pacific Region and South-East Asia. Promoting and supporting tuberculosis control within the Western Pacific Region provides an opportunity for Australia to maintain its low tuberculosis incidence rate and progress toward elimination.