Ten million people will die of tuberculosis in the next five years if global funding to fight the disease is not increased, the Stop TB Partnership warned.
The Partnership, a coalition of governments, non-profits, companies and international organisations, said 47 billion dollars are needed to save five million lives between now and 2015, including two million women and children.
Each year, nine million people contract TB, which hits hardest in the developing world. Most cases occur in Asia (55 percent) and Africa (30 percent), with India and China alone accounting for 35 percent of all cases, the Stop TB Partnership said.
Close to two million people die of the contagious lung infection each year — most from treatable cases, the Partnership said in its 2011-2015 “Global Plan to Stop TB”.
How indeed do we stop this deadly disease from killing many more millions?