Determinants of tuberculosis incidence in East Asia and Pacific: A panel regression analysis

Mark Marcos Alipio

Several studies have been carried out analyzing the determinants of TB incidence and recommended policy measures based on the significant indicators. In African and American countries, the incidence of TB decreases quickly with higher health expenditure, higher income, lower immigration, lower child mortality, and lower HIV infection rate (Dye, Lönnroth, Jaramillo, Williams, & Raviglione, 2009 ). In Europe, TB incidence variation is explained by a country's level of egalitarianism and wealth (Ploubidis et al., 2012) . Social protection and urban planning were found to strengthen tuberculosis control (Hargreaves et al., 2011) . AIDS incidence rate, unemployment rate, Gini coefficient, proportion of inmates, mean per capita household income, and primary care coverage were significant determinants of TB incidence (Pelissari, & Diaz-Quijano, 2017) . Although the determinants were suggested for strategic planning of TB, the implementation of new measures was either unsuccessful or difficult to realize because of logistical, administrative, and financial constraints (Dye et al., 2009; Hargreaves et al., 2011) .