A doctor specialising in tuberculosis says the increase in drug resistant TB cases in Papua New Guinea is a wake up call to the government to do more to contain the disease.
Four drugs are given to treat the microbacterium but these drugs are becoming less effective as the incidence of multi-drug resistant TB continues to rise.
One strain cannot be treated with two of those four drugs, while another strain, known as X-DR TB cannot be treated with any of the four drugs.
Dr Jerry Minei says the government needs to give more resources to health care workers to ensure patients are completing their treatment correctly.
"They also need a lot of resources in terms of supporting contact tracing, screening nurses and to improve public health nurses generally. So they need a lot of resources to support the activities out in the community."
Dr Jerry Minei says the less that is done, the more the infection will spread and the more difficult it will become to contain.
