Tuberculosis
Slow progress has led to frustration, expressed by executive director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria - Mark Dybul: "we have the tools to end TB as a pandemic and public health threat on the planet, but we are not doing it." Several international organizations are pushing for more transparency in treatment, and more countries are implementing mandatory reporting of cases to the government, although adherence is often sketchy. Commercial treatment-providers may at times overprescribe second-line drugs as well as supplementary treatment, promoting demands for further regulations. The government of Brazil provides universal TB-care, which reduces this problem. Conversely, falling rates of TB-infection may not relate to the number of programs directed at reducing infection rates, but may be tied to increased level of education, income and health of the population. Costs of the disease, as calculated by the World Bank in 2009 may exceed 150 billion USD per year in "high burden" countries. Lack of progress eradicating the disease may also be due to lack of patient follow-up - as among the 250M rural migrants in China.
What organization said some countries might be spending as much as $150 billion each year on TB?
World Bank
Costs of the disease, as calculated by the World Bank in 2009 may exceed 150 billion USD per year in "high burden" countries.
TB