Western Province account for 46 percent of the TB cases in the country

About 46 percent of tuberculosis patients in Sri Lanka are found in the Western Province, additional secretary of the health ministry Dr. Sunil de Alwis said.There are 8,000 identified tuberculosis patients in the country, he said.

Twenty three percent of tuberculosis patients live in the Colombo district and 1,000 within the Colombo Municipal Council limits, he said.Alwis said that some bad health habits of urban residents prevent the complete eradication of tuberculosis from the country.

He said that the Tuberculosis Commission was established in 1910 and that Sri Lanka’s struggle against the disease is almost 115 years old.He said children accounted for 3 percent of the TB cases.