Thursday is World Stop TB Day, and it is estimated China has 4.5 million active TB patients, and annually records 1.45 million new cases, according to the Ministry of Health.

"Free medical treatment will not only be given to the existing and diagnosed patients, but be provided to every newly detected sufferer in the future," said Wang Longde, vice-minister of health.

The theme of the World Stop TB Day this year is "Find TB, Cure TB" -- reflecting the need to identify and treat TB sufferers, said the event's organizers, the World Health Organization (WHO).

TB, a lung disease that spreads through the air -- similar to a common cold -- is the leading killer among all infectious diseases, such as HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis, in China and the world.

It annually kills 130,000 people in the country with a population of 1.3 billion.

Worldwide, TB kills four people every minute.

In China, 80 per cent of the TB cases live in remote and poverty-stricken areas, especially the 12 provinces and regions of central and western China, such as Shanxi and Sichuan provinces.

Although a third of the world's population is infected with TB germs -- known as bacilli, only one in 10 becomes affected, the WHO said.

In China, a total of 550 million people were said to have infected with bacilli up to now.

Physical stress, old age and HIV/AIDS can increase the likelihood of developing active TB, which usually affects the lungs, experts said.

"Although the central government's investment reached 265 million yuan (US$32 million) in 2004, lack of cash is still a problem in TB control, especially for some local governments," Wang said.

"More efforts must be done to detect and find TB sufferers," said Liu Jianjun, director of National Centre for TB Control and Prevention.

In 2004, about 60 per cent of active TB patients can be detected by doctors, the ministry said.

According to WHO, undetected cases account for half of the estimated 2 million people who develop TB every year in western Pacific region.

"It's tragic that so many people suffer silently with TB when there is, in fact, a cure that works," said WHO's Regional Director for the Western Pacific, Dr Shigeru Omi.

Without treatment, about one third of these undetected cases will continue to infect up to 15 people each, fuelling the spread of a TB epidemic.

To encourage rural doctors to detect more active TB patients and to monitor the treatment, the Ministry of Health also announced an award programme.

A doctor in poverty-stricken areas will be awarded 10 yuan (US$1.2) for diagnosing one TB patient. And a village doctor can be receive 80 yuan (US$9.6) -- enough to cover the monthly living fee of her or his family -- for carrying out DOTS strategy for one TB patient.

DOTS, Directly Observed Treatment, is the internationally recommended strategy for controlling TB, calling for early detection of people with symptoms and the constant monitoring of treatment.

But China's transient 150 million population can make TB detection and prevention difficult as they move between countryside and cities in search of work, said Liu.

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