title: TB control in Singapore: where do we go from here?
abstract: The total number of new tuberculosis (TB) cases notified in Singapore among citizens, permanent residents and foreigners rose by 46% from 2004 to 2010. During this period, the proportion of foreigners increased from 29% to 47% of the total case burden. In 2008, the TB incidence rate among Singapore citizens and permanent residents increased for the first time in ten years, despite the on-going efforts of the Singapore TB Elimination Programme. Additional measures and resources are clearly needed to curb this rising trend. Pivotal to this is to address TB among foreigners. The political will to battle TB in Singapore must result in action to remove barriers to diagnosis, to enable all TB patients to undergo treatment under directly observed therapy (DOT), and to ensure that all healthcare providers who manage TB patients are responsible and accountable to the public health system.
authors.affiliation: TB Control Unit, Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, 144 Moulmein Road, Singapore 308089. cynthia_chee@ttsh.com.sg
authors.forename: Cynthia Bin-Eng
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Chee
authors.forename: Yee Tang
authors.initials: YT
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D023801:Directly Observed Therapy; D054242:Emigrants and Immigrants / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D017053:Infection Control / Q000379:methods*; D012846:Singapore / Q000453:epidemiology; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology / Q000517:prevention & control