WHO Calls On India To Increase Funding To Fight TB

By Dr Deepu

Reuters (11/19, Kalra) reports that the World Health Organization said that the global fight to end a tuberculosis epidemic by 2030 hinges on India increasing funding to control the disease. Reuters notes that the country accounts for over 20 percent of global TB cases.

        Combating TB is a daunting task in India due to widespread insanitary conditions, poverty and a lack of public hospitals. Low public awareness and social stigma attached to the killer disease also hinder eradication efforts.

India also needs to upgrade laboratories to better detect the disease - the government last year tracked down 25,000 of the WHO's estimated 47,000 multi-drug resistant TB cases that, Raviglione said, was "not sufficient" but better than before.

    TB killed 1.1 million people globally last year, for the first time rivaling HIV/AIDS as a leading cause of death from infectious diseases.

"If India doesn't invest on TB, then there will be very little progress at the global level," said Raviglione.