The TB germs enter the air when a person with active TB coughs, sneezes or speaks.

Ghana is a Tb endemic country, 14, 632 cases were diagnosed and put on treatment in 2015. Drug resistant cases are on sharp rise.

TB, caused by a bacterial species called Mycobacterium tuberculosis, is estimated to have killed 1.8 million people worldwide in 2015.

According to World Health Organization statistics, six countries account for 60 percent of TB cases today, with India leading the count, followed by Indonesia, China, Nigeria, Pakistan and South Africa.

The disease is curable and preventable. The inappropriate use of antibiotics, including taking them without prescription or not following doctor's orders closely is slowly rendering many antibiotics useless.

About 20‚000 people get multi-drug resistant TB (MDR-TB) each year.

Dheda added that it is important for improved diagnostic tests, which are now being developed, to be made available in low-income countries "so as to inform treatment decisions and preserve the efficacy of any new antibiotic drugs for TB".

Presenting the situation of TB in Bhutan at the world TB day celebration at Bajo yesterday, Chewang Rinzin said that globally, MDR-TB is an emerging public health problem and the WHO has declared it a crisis. They suggest that in most regions of the world, drug-resistant TB is now predominantly caused by transmission.

The new study said new drugs have recently become available to treat drug-resistant TB.

Migration and travel, said the report, "mean that highly drug-resistant TB strains have emerged in nearly every part of the world". The majority of cases occur in Asia, which had 61% of the new TB cases reported in 2015. TB/HIV Co-infection Rate now stands at 22 per cent according to the World Health Organisaton (WHO). However, the rise in the number of cases of TB means that people are aware about the disease now and are hence getting themselves checked. Once this is achieved, the risk of drug resistance developing is reduced and the effectiveness of new treatments will be maintained.

Globally in 2015 there were an estimated 480,000 cases of MDR-TB - with about half in India, China and Russian Federation.

To understand the actual burden of Tuberculosis faced by the country, it is very important to understand the role of private sector in terms program implementation and research and knowledge creation as private sector contributes to 70% health sector of the country.

Expensive Drug Regimens: While a course of standard TB drugs costs approximately Rs. 1000, MDR-TB drugs can cost more than Rs.1-1.5 lakh, and the cost of XDR-TB treatment is even higher.

Blessina Kumar, who leads the Global Coalition of TB Activists, said, "We stand with every TB patient for the trauma and stigma he or she has had to face".

According to an official of National TB Control Programme, 30 TB resistance centres were also functioning with registered patients of 10,000, where deserving patients were being provided medicines and financial support.