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BUSINESS Friday 28 OctOber 2022
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HEALTH
WHO: Tuberculosis cases rise for the first time in years

DOCTOR ON DUTY
Oranjestad
GENEVA (AP) — The num- Hospital 7:00 pm / 10:00pm
ber of people infected Tel. 527 4000
with tuberculosis, including San Nicolas
the kind resistant to drugs, Imsan 24 hours
rose globally for the first Tel.524 8833
time in years, according Women in Difficulties
to a report Thursday by the PHARMACY ON DUTY
World Health Organization. Oranjestad:
The U.N. health agency Sta. Anna tel. 586 8181
said more than 10 million San Nicolas:
people worldwide were centro Medico tel. 584 5794
sickened by tuberculosis in Women in Difficulties
2021, a 4.5% rise from the OTHER
year before. About 1.6 mil- Dental Clinic 587 9850
lion people died, it said. Blood Bank Aruba 587 0002
WHO said about 450,000 Urgent Care 586 0448
Walk-In Doctor’s Clinic
cases involved people in- +297 588 0539
fected with drug-resistant Women in Difficulties
TB, 3% more than in 2020. EMERGENCY
Dr. Mel Spigelman, presi-
dent of the non-profit TB Police 100
527 3140
Oranjestad
Alliance, said more than A relative adjusts the oxygen mask of a tuberculosis patient at a TB hospital on World Tuberculosis Noord 527 3200
a decade of progress Day in Hyderabad, India, March 24, 2018. Sta. Cruz 527 2900
was lost when COVID-19 Associated Press San Nicolas 584 5000
emerged in 2020. Police Tipline 11141
“Despite gains in areas like to their treatment. WHO people with drug-resistant tions for patients seeking TB Ambulancia 911
preventative therapy, we called for more countries TB are receiving treatment. diagnosis and treatment. Fire Dept. 115
Red Cross
582 2219
are still behind in just about to cover all TB diagnosis “Drug-resistant TB is cur- Ukraine had one of the
every pledge and goal and treatment expenses. able, but alarmingly, cases world’s worst TB epidem- TAXI SERVICES
regarding TB,” Spigelman After COVID-19, TB is the are on the rise for the first ics even before Russia Taxi Tas 587 5900
said. world’s deadliest infectious time in years,” said Dr. Han- invaded the country in Prof. Taxi 588 0035
WHO also blamed CO- disease. It is caused by nah Spencer, who is with February.q Taxi D.T.S. 587 2300
VID-19 for much of the rise bacteria that typically af- Doctors Without Borders in Taxi Serv. Aruba 583 3232
A1 Taxi Serv.
280 2828
in TB, saying the pandemic fects the lungs. The germs South Africa. “It’s urgent Women in Difficulties
“continues to have a dam- are mostly spread from that shorter, safer and TRAVEL INFO
aging impact on access person to person in the air, more effective treatments
to TB diagnosis and treat- such as when an infected are scaled up now.” Aruba Airport 524 2424
ment.” It said progress individual coughs or sneez- Spencer called for lower- American Airlines 582 2700
made before 2019 has es. TB mostly affects adults, ing the prices of TB treat- Avianca 588 0059
since “slowed, stalled or re- particularly those who are ment so a complete treat- Jet Blue 588 2244
versed.” With fewer people malnourished or have oth- ment course costs no more Surinam 582 7896
being diagnosed with the er conditions like HIV; more than $500. Women in Difficulties
highly infectious disease, than 95% of cases are in WHO also said ongoing AID FOUNDATIONS
more patients unknowingly developing countries. conflicts in eastern Europe, FAVI- Visually Impaired
spread tuberculosis to oth- According to the WHO Africa and the Middle East Tel. 582 5051
ers in outbreaks that may report, only one in three have worsened the op- Alcoholics Anonymous
not have been spotted in Tel. 736 2952
countries with weak health Narcotics Anonymous
systems. Tel. 583 8989
WHO reported that the Fundacion Contra Violencia
number of people newly Relacional Tel. 583 5400
identified with TB fell from 7 Centre for Diabetes
Tel. 524 8888
million in 2019 to 5.8 million Child Abuse Prevention
in 2020. Tel. 582 4433
WHO also said COVID-19 Quota Club Tel. 525 2672
restrictions, including lock- Women in Difficulties
downs and physical dis- General Info
tancing protocols, also Phone Directory Tel. 118
hampered TB treatment
services and may have
prompted some people
to skip going to health fa-
cilities for fear of catching
coronavirus. Officials add-
ed that the downturn in the
global economy was also
a factor, saying that about
half of all TB patients and
their families face “cata-
strophic total costs” due facebook.com/arubatoday/