Journal of Infectious Diseases & Preventive Medicine
Open Access

Abstract

Tuberculosis in Trinidad a Small Developing Country: Will we Reach the Millennium Development Goal 8 (MDG8) as we Countdown to 2015?

Mungrue K

Aims: The aim of this study was to describe the epidemiological pattern of tuberculosis in Trinidad between 1993-2012, and use this data to answer three questions: (1) where as a developing country we stand in respect to MDG 8? What factors affect the rate of progress? Is it still possible to achieve these goals in the time remaining to 2015?

Methods: We used a cohort study design in which all cases attending public facilities for diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis were entered into a database and followed over time. Data on age and gender were recorded.

Results: Over the period 1993-1999 the number of new cases of TB ranged from 128 in 1993 to 259 in 1997, with an average of approximately 178 (SD ± 43) new cases occurring each year. However between 2000-2012 the number of new cases ranged from 161 in 2004 to 268 in 2008. The average number of new cases occurring each year for this period was 216 (SD ± 35), which translated into an average annual cumulative incidence rate of 15.2 per 100 000 population. This represented a significant increase in the occurrence of TB between 2000-2012 compared with the period 1993-1999.

Conclusion: We have not met MDG 8 and we are unlikely to meet this MDG by 2015, adequate resources to detect and treat TB are crucial to the future control and prevention of TB.