About 47 percent of pulmonary tuberculosis patients detected in Shanghai last year were from other provinces, the Shanghai Health Bureau said yesterday.

And most migrant patients were young or middle-aged, it said.

However, people aged over 65 years made up 30 percent of last year's local pulmonary tuberculosis cases, making elderly people the largest group of locals to suffer the disease, officials said.

China has the world's second largest number of TB patients with 1.4 million new cases every year, figures released to mark World Tuberculosis Day, March 24, showed.

The figures also showed about 20 to 30 percent of patients did not go to hospital in time.

Shanghai detected a rising epidemic last year, when 3,787 local people were found to have pulmonary tuberculosis, with 2,034 of the cases infectious.

The incidence of TB in Shanghai last year was 27.57 in every 100,000.

"Local health authorities have put great efforts in TB prevention and control," said Song Guofan, an official at Shanghai Health Bureau.

"A network involving city and district-based centers for disease control and prevention, designated hospitals and community medical facilities have been established to enhance management and care for TB patients.

"More than 98 percent of new registered patients last year were under administration and over 85 percent have been cured."

The city has introduced free or discounted medication for local residents and migrant patients to promote treatment for every TB sufferer.

(Shanghai Daily March 25, 2008)