For the first time, the measures aimed at controlling, preventing and treating tuberculosis will be regulated by a law. The Parliament Friday adopted in first reading a bill on the prophylaxis and control of tuberculosis. Currently, the given area is regulated by a Government Decision on the National Tuberculosis Prophylaxis and Control Program for 2006-2010, Info-Prim Neo reports. According to the Deputy Minister of Health Boris Golovin, the legislative document was needed in order to create a legal framework to ensure the protection of the rights of the sick people, to guarantee the free access to anti-tuberculosis treatment and to sensitize the society to the risks of infection. The necessity of the law derives from the present epidemiological situation of tuberculosis, which poses a considerable threat to the population, the deputy minister said. The bill stipulates the powers of the public administration bodies concerning the prophylaxis and control of tuberculosis, the prophylaxis and treatment measures, the rights and obligations of the sick people and of those under supervision, the social protection of the sick people and medical personnel, the prevention of tuberculosis among vulnerable groups and the responsibility for violating the legislation on the prophylaxis and control of tuberculosis. According to official statistics, 4,759 people suffering from tuberculosis were under supervision this January. Some 3,545 of these were new cases discovered in 2007. A number of 4,602 cases were reported in 2006. As many as 251 children younger than 17 got infected in 2007, as against 261 cases in 2006.