Ministry of Health officials said several hundred million yuan will be used to provide TB patients with DOTS (directly observed treatment, short course) therapy. DOTS is a universally applied treatment recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO).

The funds will also be used to reward medical workers who find new patients and ensure patients take medicines regularly, officials said.

Presently, the central government allocates some 40 million yuan (US$4.8 million) each year mainly for medical treatment.

It is one of the central government's major programs to meet global targets for TB control. China has committed to meet the targets, which call for at least 70 percent of new smear-positive (infectious) TB cases to be detected timely by 2005. At the same time, all patients must be provided with DOTS treatment and a cure rate of 85 percent must be achieved, said Wang Wenjie, division chief in charge of TB with the Disease Control Department of the Ministry of Health.

Wang Longde, vice-minister of health, made the commitment during the Second Stop TB Partners' Forum held in March in New Delhi.

Presently, the case detection rate of TB patients in China stands at about 45 percent, while DOTS coverage is approaching 100 percent and the cure rate is over 85 percent, said Wang.

Tuberculosis is the leading infectious cause of death in China. The country ranks second in the world in terms of the number of TB patients. India is first.

WHO has listed China as one of 22 countries with a high TB-burden.

Of China's 4.5 million people suffering from TB, 1.5 million are infectious. The country sees 1.45 million new cases every year and 130,000 deaths.

To achieve the TB control goals, the Ministry of Health, with assistance from experts from WHO and other international agencies, have sent out several supervision teams to several provinces and municipalities, said Wang Wenjie.

A notice has been issued by the Ministry of Health, asking local health institutions, especially those at county and township levels to tighten monitoring, reporting and management.

The ministry is also considering using mobile medical vans to provide basic medical care services for people in remote and rural areas to find more new patients and treat them in time.

The TB project in China has received extensive support from the international community.

The World Health Organization, World Bank, the Department for International Development (DFID) of the UK, Damien Foundation, the Government of Japan, Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and other national and international non-governmental organizations played important role in the projects.

One ongoing project with the World Bank/DFID, UK, a loan of US$104 million has been committed to China over seven years from March 2002 to treat TB patients in China. About 680 million people in 16 provinces and autonomous regions will benefit and more than 2 million patients are expected to get access to free medical treatment.

(China Daily July 23, 2004)