March 24, 2000, Friday
HEADLINE: Korean TBdeath rate ranks highest among OECD members
BYLINE: By Shin Hye-son Staff reporter
Although the number of Koreans contracting tuberculosis (TB) continues to decline, the
nation still has the highest mortality rate from the disease among the 29 members of the
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, health officials said yesterday.
The Health and Welfare Ministry said 3,314 Koreans, or 7.1 per 100,000 people, died of
TB in 1998.
Only 0.5 per 100,000 people died of the disease in the United States, 0.8 in Britain,
2.3 in Japan, 3.4 in Singapore and 4.9 in China.
The number of Koreans killed by TB in 1998 accounted for 54.6 percent of all infectious
disease-related deaths. Of those who died of TB, 59.6 percent or 1,643 were in the
economically active 15-64 age group.
Despite the high fatality rate, the number of TB patients as a percentage of the
nation's total population was found to be declining. The figure dropped from 2.5 percent
in 1980 to 1.8 percent in 1990 to 1 percent in 1995.
The number of patients registered with the government was also reported to be
decreasing, falling from 52,000 in 1995 to 41,000 in 1997 and 36,000 last year.
The officials noted, however, that compared to foreign countries, Korea has a larger
proportion of young people contracting the disease. Ministry figures showed that 4,564
people between the ages of 15 and 24 and 4,274 people between the ages of 25 and 34 were
newly registered with the government as TB patients last year. In an attempt to better
control the disease, the ministry this year plans to establish a TB monitoring system that
will collect information about the disease from state-run health centers and medical
institutions.
Through the system, the government expects to lower the TB rate to 0.4 percent of the
total population by 2005.
Meanwhile, the ministry held a ceremony yesterday in central Seoul to commemorate the
18th Universal Tuberculosis Day. About 400 people attended. The World Health Organization
(WHO) and the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease established
Universal Tuberculosis Day in 1982 to raise public awareness of the epidemic.
According to WHO estimates, the disease claimed the lives of 3 million people worldwide
in 1995 and is expected to kill 3.5 million this year. As for the main causes of the
epidemic, WHO pointed to increases in the number of HIV-positive and AIDS patients,
growing homelessness and drug abuse, and malnutrition.