Covid focus a risk in TB war

THERE are fears the world’s deadliest infectious disease could spread into Queensland as the COVID-19 pandemic diverts money and attention from the fight against tuberculosis.

North Queensland Indigenous communities are most at risk as they share a porous border with parts of PNG that have the world’s highest rate of multi-drug resistant TB.

Medical experts, NGOS and Leichhardt MP Warren Entsch ( right) have been increasingly sounding the alarm following wing reports that coroonavirus cases will ill overwhelm health h systems in counntries already fighttand ing TB, HIV/AIDS malaria i pandemics.

A study in The he Lancet medical al deaths journal from predicted TB e could spike up to 20 per cent in the he next five years compared to if there had not been a pandemic. TB was the world’s leading infectious disease killer in 2018, leading to 1.45 million deaths from 10 million infections.

Australian Council for International Development chief executive Marc Purcell said the health impacts could cripple the region’s economic recovery and undermine political and social cohesion.

“Some of the worst affected areas of PNG are in Western Province, where the maritime border lies just several kilometres from Australia’s territory and vulnerable Torres Strait communities,” he said.

Mr Entsch said the current TB vaccine was “as useless as a hip pocket in a singlet” and he hoped the global race to find a coronavirus vaccine could “flow over into a TB vaccine”.

“Getting some more work done on focusing on TB, to me that that’s s theholy the Holy Grail,” he said.

Burnet Institu tute deputy h health and securit ity program dire rector Suman Majumdar said it was vital Australia provided new re resources and in investments to ta tackle regional C COVID outbr breaks and did not “divert lo long-term support that is vital for fighting TB”.

Global Health Alliance Australia executive director Misha Coleman said if 1 per cent of our domestic COVID response packages were dedicated to keeping the TB rates low in neighbouring countries, “we could structure regional health security into our economy in a really sustainable way going forward”.