BBC: Parts of London have higher rates of tuberculosis than Rwanda or Iraq, a report from the London Assembly says.
A third of London’s boroughs suffer from high rates of TB, with more than 40 incidents per 100,000 people.
Some wards in Brent, Ealing, Harrow, Hounslow and Newham have rates of more than 150 per 100,000.
The report said prisoners, homeless people, people with substance abuse issues, refugees and migrants were particularly at risk.
Although the BCG vaccination against TB is recommended for all newborn babies in London, eight of the 24 boroughs do not offer it.
The rate of infection among UK-born Londoners has risen, while among the non-UK-born it has fallen – and the report said it would be wrong to assume TB was a disease of migrants.
The borough with the highest rate per 100,000 people was Newham, with 107 cases. Figures for 2013 from the World Health Organisation showed in Rwanda the figure was 69, while in Iraq it was 45.
Algeria and Guatemala also had a lower incidence than the capital, the reports points out.
The average rate per 100,000 in the UK as a whole was 13.
