China's tuberculosis prevention, treatment better than world average

BEIJING -- China's tuberculosis incidence rate fell to 60.5 per 100,000 people in 2017, and the country's tuberculosis prevention and treatment is better than the world average, according to the National Health Commission.

"The country's incidence rate of tuberculosis in 2017 dropped by 14.3 percent from 2012. The annual drop was around 3 percent, obviously faster than the world average," said Mao Qun'an, head of the disease control and prevention division of the commission.

The mortality rate of tuberculosis was 2.8 per 100,000 people in China in 2017, comparable to that of developed countries, Mao said.

Noting that China has laid out anti-tuberculosis plans to address different phases of the disease, Mao said the fund for preventing and treating the disease has risen from 260 million yuan ($ 41 million) in 2004 to 640 million yuan in 2017.

"The authorities have promoted education about tuberculosis and screening of the disease among the public," Mao said. "At present, there are more than 700,000 anti-tuberculosis volunteers."