Tuberculosis is still strongly linked to poverty, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday.
In its study on 42,763 people with practically no income who visited public health centers and other medical facilities for TB checkups in 2008, about 80 were diagnosed with the pneumonic disease. The frequency rate could be translated into 187 out of every 100,000 people who fall sick to tuberculosis. Other studies have found the national average rate to be 91 in 100,000.
Tuberculosis was three times more common in men than in women. By age, those in their 50s were the most susceptible.
Homeless people had the highest rate of the disease. The study detected a tuberculosis rate among the homeless of 620.9 per 100,000.
In another report by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, about 7.2 percent of the whole population has or has had TB, but only 6 percent have been treated. About 11.3 percent of homeless people and 8.9 percent of disabled people staying at social welfare facilities have medical records saying they were diagnosed with the disease.
“Screening TB for rough sleepers isn’t easy because they hardly visit medical facilities for checkups. Even if they do, they refuse regular treatment,” said a KCDC official.
“A thorough investigation into their health status should be carried out,” she added.
The number of TB patients exceeded 36,000 last year, and 2,300 of them died. The figure is the highest among OECD member countries, 22 times higher than that of the U.S. and four times higher than in Japan. The KCDC said the socioeconomic cost of TB was estimated at more than 800 billion won ($710 million) a year.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare and the KCDC was conducting a 2020 campaign aimed at eradicating TB from the country. To begin with, they plan to reduce the number of patients to a quarter of the mumber by 2020. They also have joined hands with local administrations in conducting TB checks for elderly citizens and school students.
“We are also collaborating with international experts and organizations to raise public awareness of TB and use a systematic concerted approach to the eradication of the disease,” the KCDC official said.
By Bae Ji-sook (
baejisook@heraldcorp.com)
