The Union coordinated with the Ministry of Health to train the 200 people who gave tuberculin skin tests to 7,740 school children attending 251 public and private educational institutions in cities with populations over 20,000 across 9 selected regions of the country. The children, aged 6 and 7, included both boys and girls. The training was designed to ensure the validity of the testing and other data.
The study found that the prevalence of TB infection among the children was 4.2% with a 0.7% RAIT. These figures showed no significant difference when compared to 2008; however, when compared to the study conducted in 1998, the numbers have increased threefold in the 9 regions.
The study funded by the Ministry of Economy and Finance ran from August 2012 through February 2013 in Ica, Loreto, Madre de Dios, Tacna, Ucayali, Moquegua, Ancash, La Libertad, and Lima's districts.
Edith Alarcon and Rita Ricaldi from The Union Peru Office presented the results at an event held in Lima at the National Institute of Statistics and Informatics (INEI). Approximately 80 people attended, including the head of INEI and the director generals of the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Women and Vulnerable Populations and the Ministry of Economy and Finance.
The National Institute of Statistics and Information published the results and an online version soon will be available at www.inei.gob.pe. The final report of this study may also be downloaded at The Union's Latin America Region website at www.theunion.org/latinamerica/