Tuberculosis in Asia and the Pacific: The Role of Socioeconomic Status and Health System Development

OBJECTIVE To identify the relationship between socioeconomic status, health system development and the incidence, prevalence and mortality of tuberculosis in Asia and the Pacific. METHODS Incidence, prevalence and mortality rates of tuberculosis and 20 variables of socioeconomic, health system and biological-behavioral issues were included in the study involving all 46 countries of the Asian Development Bank region (2007 data). Both univariate and multivariate linear regressions were used. RESULTS The worst three tuberculosis affected countries were Cambodia, India and Indonesia, while the least affected was Australia. Tuberculosis incidence, prevalence and mortality rate were higher in countries with lower human development index, corruption perception index, gross domestic product (GDP) per capita and countries with more people under minimum food supplements. Among the health system variables, total health expenditure per capita, governmental health expenditure per capita, hospital beds, and access to improved water and sanitation were strongly associated with tuberculosis. CONCLUSIONS Socioeconomic determinants and health system development have significant effect on the control of tuberculosis in Asia and the Pacific region. The study has some policy implications by means of lowering the corruption and improving the sanitation.