Incidence of Tuberculosis Rapidly Increasing in Russia
Moscow, 15th April, ITAR-TASS correspondent Anna Varshavskaya: In the current year the incidence of tuberculosis in Russia has increased by 8 per cent. The Russian first deputy minister of health, Gennadiy Onishchenko, reported this at a news conference today. He said that approximately 2.5m people in Russia are suffering from various forms of tuberculosis. Moreover, 108,000 were diagnosed last year.
The Siberian regions account for the bulk of tuberculosis sufferers. The numbers of cases there are double the average for Russia. This figure is explained by the fact that tuberculosis is an illness connected with social status and poverty.
Gennadiy Onishchenko said that the risk of contracting tuberculosis in prison is 50 times higher. In the prisons 4,300 out of every 100,000 are tuberculosis sufferers, he said.