Tuberculosis, once considered a disease of the past, is on the increase in New Zealand according to experts. Today they gathered in Wellington to discuss solutions to eliminate the disease as part of a global plan by the World Health Organisation to eliminate the disease by 2035. How prepared is the country to be part of that plan?
It's the world's deadliest infection and experts in New Zealand say it's not going away.
Professor Philip Hill of the University of Otago says, "We have about 300 cases per year and that's been persistent over the last decade or so and it's not decreasing and may well increase slightly over time."
Tuberculosis is a highly contagious but preventable disease. It kills around 1.6 million people globally per year.
More than 200 cases of tuberculosis in New Zealand each year are introduced from third world countries. Hill says "There's not a huge amount of natural mixing between some of the immigrant populations from high risks countries like India, Pakistan and some of other Asian countries.”
“Not a lot of huge natural intense mixing with the Māori population but there is a risk if we are bringing TB in continually into the country then we are risking the whole population from exposure to the bug."
During the 1930s and 40s, tuberculosis was the single highest cause of death among Māori. Today, Māori make up roughly 30-50 of the about 60, mostly latent TB cases in NZ-born Kiwis.
"It's definitely still coming into New Zealand but a lot of the TB especially in the Māori population looks like it's coming from that original source and so what we think has happened is a carry-over affect from last century."
But TB is multi-drug resistant and takes long periods of treatment and quarantine which comes at a cost of $400,000 per case. Now the New Zealand medical profession is ramping up efforts to become the first country to wipe it out.
But New Zealand doesn't yet have a plan.
Hill says, "Māori need to be right at the forefront of understanding and leading any initiative that will be undertaken."
Labour MP for Manurewa Louisa Wall says, "I think if we focus on improving the quality of our housing is going to support it, but the reality is we need to invest in people like Philip, our researchers who actually want to understand the phenomenon more and actually if we can treat for latent TB then we should treat for latent TB."
The 2018 Australasian Tuberculolsis conference in Wellington will hear from experts, Māori researchers including families affected by the infectious disease.