Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the worldââ¢s leading cause of infectious disease morbidity and mortality. It affects all age, sex and human body parts. According to World Health Organizationââ¢s (WHO) 2010 estimation, there were 8.5-9.2 million new cases and 1.2-1.5 million deaths including deaths from TB among HIV-positive people. Every untreated smear positive TB patient can infect 10 - 15 persons per year. Identifying and following-up of those infectious patients is the primary objective of TB control strategy. One of the backbone components in TB controlling programme is the presence of uninterrupted quality laboratory services for the detection and follow-up of the treatment. The golden standard method of active pulmonary TB detection mechanism in poor countries, where there is no access to culture is microscopy. (Assessing the Quality of Tuberculosis Laboratory Services in Selected Public and Private Health Facilities in Western Amhara, Ethiopia-Mulusew Andualem Asemahagn)
Last date updated on October, 2024