China Opens Website for TB Prevention and Cure

The website, www.tb123.org, China 's first website for the prevention and cure of tuberculosis, or TB, was launched Thursday.

According to a senior Ministry of Health (MOH) official, the move aims to welcome the forthcoming "International Day for TB Prevention and Cure," which falls on March 24.

The website is expected to "facilitate the publicity of TB- related knowledge, and help improve the awareness of the public on the airborne infectious disease," said Chen Xianyi, a deputy director of the ministry's disease control department.

Official statistics show that one TB patient might infect 10 to 15 people within a year if he or she has not received proper treatment.

With some six million tuberculosis (TB) patients, China is the second largest country in the world in terms of a TB population, next only to India.

Claiming a larger number of lives each year, TB has become a major public health problem hindering the country's social and economic development, the official said.

People's Daily Online --- http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/