Risks to tuberculosis among freshers in Makerere University Kampala 1970-1974

Abstract

Tuberculosis has been known to physicians and laymen or centuries. It was mentioned by the posts in their writings. It is now known that tuberculosis is a world wide disease. A conservative estimate of the problem by the WHO experts noted: A pool of 10-15 million infectious cases 2-3 million new cases each year 1-2 million deaths (17) In the introduction to the eighth report (1964) of the WHO Expert Committee on Tuberculosis, the disease is conceded “to be the most important specific communicable disease in the world as a whole, and its control should receive priority and emphasis both by WHO and Governments.” (18) Dr. Candau, then Director General of the WHO adding the Committee noted a rapidly increasing gap between the developed and the developing countries in the incidence of tuberculosis. He said he believed that the unsatisfactory position in tuberculosis was largely due to the inadequate application of the existing knowledge. It is well recognized that tracing and treating all individuals with active tuberculosis is one of the methods of eradicating this disease; hence the need to evaluate our methods of this ‘tracing’ in the Tuberculosis Control. (5)