Friday, November 18, 2022

Pediatric tuberculosis (TB) accounts for around 11% of all TB cases globally. However, TB is harder to diagnose in children and is not given sufficient attention in most national health programs, including Vietnam’s. Most provincial pediatric and lung hospitals don’t have enough capacity to screen and detect pediatric TB. As a result, children have had to travel to national pediatric hospitals in Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City for diagnosis. The USAID Support to End TB project has assisted provincial pediatric hospitals in seven priority provinces by starting routine TB screening for children. This has resulted in the identification of 10 pediatric TB cases between January and September of this year, whereas before they would have detected none.

By enabling provinces to start screening and detecting TB in children, USAID is helping Vietnam to close this crucial caseload gap and advance toward its goal of ending TB by 2030.

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