On the occasion of World Tuberculosis Day, celebrated on March 24, a group of British parliamentarians (the UK All Party Parliamentary Group on Global Tuberculosis) calls on the various governments to create a research and development fund to fight tuberculosis, one of the infectious diseases that cause the most deaths in the world. The latest figures from the World Health Organization (WHO) indicate that in 2013, 9 million people contracted tuberculosis and 1.5 million died from it. And according to British parliamentarians, multidrug-resistant tuberculosis could kill 75 million people by 2050 and cost the global economy 15.3 trillion euros.
A form of the disease that is resistant to drugs
Huge progress has been made in recent years: the death rate from tuberculosis fell by 45% between 1990 and 2013 and nearly 37 million lives were saved between 2000 and 2013. But there are important foci where the tuberculosis, become multi-resistant, where the cure rate remains low. This form of tuberculosis (MDR-TB) is caused by microorganisms resistant to the two most effective anti-tuberculosis drugs (isoniazid and rifampicin). It has been recorded in a hundred countries.
Despite the resistance of the disease, WHO aims to end the global tuberculosis epidemic by reducing the number of deaths from tuberculosis by 95% and the incidence by 90% between 2015 and 2035. As are the cases of UK MPs, the world organization calls on governments to adapt and implement a disease control strategy to secure high-level commitment and funding.
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