Tanzania is heavily burdened by a high incidence of tuberculosis (TB) and a high rate of deaths caused by the disease, according to a World Health Organization (WHO) report.

The world public health institution released the report on Monday in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.

The WHO report said that Tanzania is burdened with 120,000 new TB cases per year with 56,000 of these being HIV-positive.

Of these cases, 32,000 people die from the disease per year. Of the annual TB deaths, 20,000 are HIV-positive, the report added.

HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis are claimed to be the top three killer diseases in Tanzania, combining to kill some 250,000 people each year. Tanzania now has an estimated population of 40 million people.

(Xinhua News Agency March 25, 2009)