The Ministry of Health reported there were 2,505 tuberculosis patients in the Kingdom in 2015, Al-Watan newspaper reported. A source said there were 7.95 tuberculosis cases for every 100,000 people. "The highest rate of tuberculosis was in Jeddah with 711 cases. The rate of tuberculosis increased by 7.2 percent in 2015 in comparison to 2014. There were only 2,336 tuberculosis patients in 2014," said the source. The source said Riyadh had 586 patients, the Eastern Province had 231, Makkah 192, Jazan 180, Madinah 161, Asir 83, Qassim 72 and Al-Ahsa 39 patients. Taif had 38 patients, Najran had 36, Tabuk 33, Baha 29, Hafr Al-Batin 27, Jouf 19, Northern Borders 13, Qunfudah 13, Bisha 10 and Qurayyat eight. The source said 44 percent of tuberculosis patients were Saudi and 56 percent non-Saudi. "Of the patients, 68 percent were men and 32 percent women. The most affected group are non-Saudi men with 37 percent, followed by Saudi men with 32 percent, said the source. He said 19 percent of the cases were among non-Saudi women while Saudi women represented 12 percent of the cases. Most tuberculosis patients were aged between 15 and 45 years. This age group represented 71 percent of the patients. Patients aged 45 years or older formed 24 percent of the total number of patients, said the source.
