Technical experts from The Union and other organisations participated in the first joint monitoring mission initiated by the Lao PDR's National TB Programme (NTP) with support from the WHO Western Pacific Region. Dr Steve Graham of The Union's Child Lung Health Division contributed expertise on child TB, while other members of the mission focused on different aspects of TB control.
According to Dr Graham, a recent prevalence survey found that the prevalence of child TB was much higher than expected – 260 per 100,000 smear-positive cases, but only 78 child TB cases were registered with the NTP. This represents less than 5 per 100,000 of the child population.
Issues that came out of the mission included the need for health workers to have more confidence about recognising and diagnosing child TB and the children's lack of ready access to treatment.