“Tuberculosis was last year’s most overlooked tragedy. TB killed more people than all wars, earthquakes, floods, tsunamis, airline accidents, terrorist acts and murders worldwide the past year, and with much less fanfare.”
— 2005 TB Control Report Card by Massive Effort
Campaign and Results International
Dubbed “the most overlooked tragedy,” tuberculosis will be on the global radar for years to come, according to two reports that were issued on World TB Day 2005. Both reports focused on the state of the TB epidemic, elaborating the complications with TB control today and highlighting the problems posed by the deadly interaction between TB and HIV/AIDS. Despite important progress in DOTS coverage, the reports urge that greater attention be paid to the fight against TB, especially as countries look towards the upcoming summits on poverty and infectious diseases, such as the G8 meeting in July and the Millennium Development Goal meeting in September.
In its annual TB Control report, “Global Tuberculosis Control: Surveillance, Planning, Financing,” the World Health Organization (WHO) described an increasingly alarming situation in the overall incidence rates of TB across the globe. While several regions seem to be experiencing declines in TB incidence, the dramatic increase in Africa has signaled a significant rise in the number of cases diagnosed last year. The report also indicated that the European region was experiencing rates of TB-related deaths almost as high as Africa, due in large part to its high rates of treatment failure spurred by drug resistance in countries from the former Soviet Union.
Separately, Massive Effort Campaign/Results International issued their .second annual “TB Report Card.” The report tracks the progress of 22 high-burden countries in reaching the WHO targets of detecting 7 in 10 infectious cases of TB, and successfully curing at least 6 of these cases.
Observing that 1.8 million TB-related deaths could have been prevented in 2004 with more effective drugs, the report identifies the greatest challenges for TB control:
- - TB/HIV dual epidemic— HIV-positive individuals are at greater risk of contracting opportunistic infections such as TB, and treatment for co-infected patients is complicated by drug-drug interactions. Furthermore, TB control efforts have been hampered in countries that are overwhelmed by the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
- - Inadequate health systems— TB control is further complicated by inadequate medical infrastructure and a shortage of human capital. The report notes that while Africa “suffers from 25% of the world’s burden of diseases, only 1.3% of the world’s doctors, nurses and allied health professionals work on the continent”.
- - Lack of commitment to TB control— The report calls for governments to rank TB as a high political and financial priority, and for wealthy countries to provide leadership and support to the world’s poorest countries in their efforts to harness the TB epidemic.
- - Insufficient funding— This is the final challenge for TB control: the WHO estimates an additional US$1 billion is needed for DOTS expansion and for the acceleration of R&D for better diagnostics and drugs.
Source: TB Report Card 2005, Massive Effort Campaign and Results International