Tuberculosis has killed more people than any other infectious disease in human history, yet before 2013 no new drugs to treat the illness had been developed for more than 40 years.
Access to treatment varies from country to country, depending on the strength of health care systems and ability to buy drugs that can cost thousands of dollars. TB is treatable and curable, but 1.5 million people died from the disease in 2013.
Delegates from all around the world came together last month in Barcelona, Spain for the first international parliamentarian TB summit, where attendees declared a commitment to end TB in a generation — including a call for the world to jointly create a new model of research and development to sustain and enhance the existing pipeline of new drugs and ensure treatments are accessible and affordable. The threat of TB was later emphasized during the 45th World Conference on Lung Health also in Barcelona, where the International Union Against Tuberculosis and the Lung Disease and the World Diabetes Foundation warned of a global co-epidemic of diabetes mellitus and TB.
About the author
Gabriella Jóźwiak@GabriellaJ
Gabriella Jóźwiak is an award-winning journalist based in London. Her work on issues and policies affecting children and young people in developing countries and the U.K. has been published in national newspapers and magazines. Having worked in-house for domestic and international development charities, Jóźwiak has a keen interest in organizational development, and has worked as a journalist in several countries across West Africa and South America.
