Vietnam is estimated to have some 232,000 cases of tuberculosis (TB) infections each year in recent years, some of which are left undetected, a local health-care official told Xinhua on Friday.

The successful TB treatment rate in Vietnam is now 93 percent, higher than the world's average of 83 percent, and the standard rate of 85 percent recommended by the World Health Organization, said the director of the National Hospital of Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases in Hanoi capital, Dinh Ngoc Sy.

To curb the disease, Vietnam is intensifying vaccination, urging local people to keep hygienic and have healthy lifestyles, encouraging them to go to see doctors when having signs of TB infection, and strengthening diagnosis and treatment systems nationwide.

The country with a population of over 83 million has aimed to halve the annual new TB infections by 2015, he said.

Source: Xinhua