ASTANA, November 21 (RIA Novsti) - Kazakhstan's health ministry said Wednesday that the number of people, infected by drug-resistant tuberculosis is on the rise in almost all of the country's regions.

"A total of 8,000 people have been registered so far, 1,500 of them in 2007" the ministry said in a press release, admitting that a significant proportion of those affected by the strain contracted the disease in the republic.

The ministry said that although the incidence rate for tuberculosis has dropped by 3.6%, and deaths by 9.3%, among children and teenagers there had been a rise in cases.

The ministry said that late diagnosis and the incorrect treatment of children with tuberculosis was the main reason for the increase.

Drug-resistant TB, which first emerged in 2006, is virtually immune to antibiotics and is caused by patients being inconsistently or partially treated with drugs.

According to the World Health Organization, some 8.8 million people develop normal tuberculosis every year, with 450,000 infected with the resistant form. Rates in the former Soviet Union are particularly high, although the disease has been reported in 37 countries.

In addition, treatment rates for Kazakhstan are behind the 85% target set by the WHO.