ample, the incidence of bacillary dysentery detected by the government’s routine national surveillance system decreased more than 6-fold between 1991 and 1999, from 1.3/10 000increased life expectancy and other demographic changes are population per year to 0.2/10 000 population per year (1, 2).transforming the health problems of its population. For ex- Over the past decade, the reported average annual incidence