Demographic characteristics of the population infected with tuberculosis (TB) in Iraq in 2020

Abstract

The research focuses on studying the demographic characteristics of the population infected with pulmonary tuberculosis in Iraq for the year 2020, in terms of studying the number of cases registered in Iraq and according to their age and gender composition, relying on data from the Iraqi Ministry of Health and the Tuberculosis Institute. Tuberculosis represents an endemic disease in Iraq at varying rates, as a successive increase has been recorded. The number of cases of infection with the disease throughout the country for the period (1990-1999) ranged between (75-140) cases per hundred thousand population due to the circumstances that the country went through during that period. Then, the cases recorded a gradual decrease during the year 2000 (41 cases per hundred). thousand of the population, in addition to studying the spatial variation in cases of infection with the disease at the level of the Iraqi governorates during the year 2020, with the capital, Baghdad, recording the highest infections with a prevalence rate of (19.1) per hundred thousand population, while Dohuk Governorate recorded the lowest infections with a prevalence rate that did not exceed (7) One infection per 100,000 population. The age groups (15-44) were the most vulnerable to the disease, being the young group working in society. The number of tuberculosis cases recorded throughout Iraq in 2020 reached (5016) cases, the infection rate in females was (51%) and the infection rate in males was (49%), meaning that the number of female cases is slightly more than males, so infection with the disease is possible for both sexes, in addition to the presence of social, behavioral, physiological and environmental factors. This explains the increase in these cases.