Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis is a real global health threat. They are developing more and more and the most powerful anti-tuberculosis treatments are not effective in combating these forms of the disease, according to the new report from the World Health Organization.
The tuberculosis mortality rate fell by 45% between 1990 and 2013 and almost 37 million lives were saved between 2000 and 2013 thanks to the diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis. tuberculosis. But this progress and these encouraging figures should not make us forget that tuberculosis is one of the diseases caused by a single infectious agent in the world. It is in second position just after AIDS. In 2013, 9 million people developed tuberculosis and 1.5 million died from it, recalls the Organization.
Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis: a low cure rate
Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) is caused by microorganisms resistant to the most effective anti-tuberculosis drugs (isoniazid and rifampicin). This form of tuberculosis has been identified in around a hundred countries. “There are major outbreaks in a few regions, particularly in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, and the low recovery rate is alarming,” the organization said in its annual report on the tuberculosis.
“The level of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis was still high in 2013, with some 480,000 new cases,” the Organization announced. “Some nine million people contracted TB in 2013, 3.5% of whom were multidrug-resistant in some way, cases much more difficult to treat,” according to the WHO. Especially since, although screening worldwide with rapid diagnostic tests has increased by more than 40%, three out of four cases of MDR-TB tuberculosis are still undiagnosed.
To tackle the problem of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis and eradicate the disease, the WHO would need 6.3 billion euros (8 billion dollars) per year. But, each year, it only has 6 billion dollars.