AMMAN — Sixty-five cases of tuberculosis (TB) were registered in the Kingdom in the first quarter of the year, the majority of them Jordanians, a Ministry of Health official said on Tuesday.

Khalid Abu Rumman, director of the ministry’s respiratory diseases department, said 51 of these cases were found in Jordanians, while the rest were among guest workers.

Figures he presented showed that seven TB cases were found among Indonesian domestic workers, five among Sri Lankans and two among Filipinos.

In addition, Abu Rumman noted that 15 hepatitis cases were registered among Filipinos, four among Indonesians, and three among Sri Lankans, while only one HIV/AIDS case was registered among domestic helpers, a Sri Lankan worker.

In a previous statement to The Jordan Times, Abu Rumman noted that the current TB prevalence in Jordan is five cases per 100,000 people, “which is the lowest in the region”.

Last year, the rate was six cases per 100,000, according to the ministry’s figures.

Also in a previous statement, Minister of Health Abdul Latif Wreikat explained that Jordan was adopting and implementing all available measures to eliminate TB in order to realise the World Health Organisation’s goal of reducing the prevalence rate to one case per 100,000 by 2020.

According to official figures, 233 TB cases were detected among Jordanians in 2011, compared to 232 cases in 2010 and 272 in 2009.