Thai Public Health Minister Sudarat Keyuraphan warned that the number of TB cases was rising, along with the number of people with HIV/AIDS who contract TB, the Nation newspaper reported Monday. Last year, 67,150 TB cases were reported, with between 80,000 and 100,000 new cases expected to occur each year, Sudarat said in a statement released on World TB Day. According to World Health Organization (WHO), about 8 million new TB cases are reported globally each year, and about 3 million people die each year from the disease. Thai Public Health Ministry estimates that there are between 20,000 and 30,000 Thais who have TB but do not know it. The department is testing young relatives of current patients to quickly locate people with TB. The department also estimated 900,000 Thais with HIV/AIDS had a high risk of developing TB, while one in four HIV/AIDS patients had been found to have the disease.

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