| Surveillance of Tuberculosis
in Europe |
Tuberculosis cases
notified in 1995 |
3. Tuberculosis cases
notified in 1995 In
1995, 276 811 cases of tuberculosis were notified
in 46 countries of the WHO European Region (Table1).
The incidence rate of notified tuberculosis was 34.6 cases
per 100 000 population. The rate varied between countries
from 2.7 per 100 000 in Malta to 101.9 cases per 100 000
in Romania, with a median rate of 23 cases per 100 000.
The incidence rate was lower
than 20 per 100 000 in 22 countries (Group 1), among
which 11 met the definition of "low incidence country" [3], i.e.
a country with annually less than 10 notified cases per
100 000 population (see Map).
The rate was 20 cases per 100 000 or over in 24 countries
(Group 2). Except for Albania, the Czech Republic and Israel,
Group 1 countries were mostly located in the western part
of Europe. They accounted for 44% of the population but
notified 16% of the cases of the 46 participating countries.
Group 2 countries were mostly situated in the eastern part
of Europe, with the exception of Portugal and Spain. They
accounted for 56% of the population and notified 84% of
the cases.
In the European Union (EU),
54 133 cases were notified in 1995. The incidence
rate was 14.5 cases per 100 000 population, ranging
from 6.4 in Sweden to 56.8 in Portugal. Among the 15 EU
countries, 13 were in Group 1 (< 20 cases per 100 000).
The figures reported differed
slightly from those published by WHO (World Health Organisation
- Global Tuberculosis Programme. Global Tuberculosis Control.
WHO Report 1997. Geneva, Switzerland. WHO/TB/97.225).
This is due to the fact that WHO figures were collected
several months prior to those presented in this report,
and as such, were often preliminary.
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