Increase in drug-resistant TB in southwest
An increase in the number of resistant-TB cases has occurred in the southwestern region of Việt Nam, according to the head of the region’s national TB prevention and control office. At a conference on TB prevention held last week in Cần Thơ, Dr Nguyễn Thị Thanh Nhàn said that nearly 1,300 patients with resistant TB were diagnosed every year in the southwestern region, accounting for 25 per cent of the total number of resistant-TB patients in the country. The provinces of An Giang (220), Đồng Tháp (150) and Kiên Giang (130) have the highest number of resistant-TB cases in the southwestern region, while Cà Mau, Vĩnh Long, Cần Thơ, Tiền Giang and Bến Tre provinces face a shortage of medicine and chemicals as well as funds.