TUBERCULOSIS - A NEW PRIORITY

Tuberculosis is one of the mast widespread diseases affecting more tha n 8 million subjects. The death toll has been estimated at 3 million p ersons annually. In France, the incidence in 1991 was 15 per 100,000 i nhabitants with wide regional variation (37 per 100,000 in Paris and s urrounding areas). It is difficult to interprete variations in inciden ce which would appear to be on the rise since 1993. (The increase may be a real rise in incidence or simply due to better registration as a result of reports of HIV infection.) In industrialized countries, econ omic factors, movements in populations, restrictive policies in antitu berculosis health care and HIV infection are all factors leading to an increased incidence in tuberculosis. These observations strongly sugg est the need for reorganizing our health care policy in the fight agai nst tuberculosis, improving modern techniques in bacteriological ident ification and imagining new modalities of prevention and treatment. Sp ecial emphasis must be placed on research still required before this c urable disease can be eradicated.