UK urged to keep TB controls tight, as "major problem" persists

UK efforts to control TB must be sustained in order to tackle what remains a "major public health problem". So said the Health Protection Agency (HPA), after announcing a marginal annual fall in new cases last year, from 8,495 in 2006, to 8,417 (-0.9%). "The upward trend in recent years is beginning to stabilise, but the figures are still too high," it said, noting that in 2000, new case reports numbered 6,726. The problem is most acute among certain areas and population groups, notably inner cities: London alone, with 39% (3,265) of UK cases, had a prevalence rate of 43.2 per 100,000, compared with a national average of 8.4 per 100,000.