According to provisional figures published on Friday by the Directorate-General for Health (DGS), on World Tuberculosis Day, the incidence rate (new cases) of tuberculosis in Portugal was 18 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2016.

In a statement through the National Programme for HIV, AIDS and Tuberculosis Infection, the DGS said“the rise in the proportion (of cases in people born outside the country) led the National Programme to develop joint strategies with the High Commission on Migration, the Foreigner and Borders Service and NGOs to reduce this figure.”

Figures for 2015 showed that 88% of patients with tuberculosis were tested for HIV, “of which 12% were positive.”

“Portugal continues to have one of the highest tuberculosis/HIIV co-infection rates in Western Europe, which has led the programme to outline strategies to screen for tuberculosis in the HIV positive population and identify obstacles to preventative treatment in this population,” said the DGS statement.

In October of last year, the director-general for health, Francisco George, said that the incidence rate of tuberculosis in Portugal, in 2015, was 19.2 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.