In its latest Global Tuberculosis Report, the World Health Organization estimates that effective diagnosis and treatment have saved 43 million lives between 2000 and 2014. That’s nearly a 50 percent drop in mortality. These powerful statistics not only remind us that TB is both preventable and curable, but they show just how much transformation we can bring about when we pair global ambition with action.
So how can it be that TB remains one of the world’s biggest health threats, ranking as the number one cause of death from infectious disease worldwide?
First, efforts to eliminate TB are being thwarted by the alarming spread of multidrug-resistant TB — now considered a global public health crisis. Secondly — and quite cruelly — it is the poorest areas of the world that typically bear the brunt of the burden.
About the authors
Wim Parys
Wim Parys is the head of research and development at Janssen's global public health group. He was development head of Janssen’s infectious diseases and vaccines therapeutic area and he led the discovery and development of other medicines for HIV, hepatitis C, multidrug-resistant tuberculosis and respiratory viral diseases. He held several R&D positions and developed a drug for Alzheimer’s disease and three innovative HIV drugs. He obtained his medical degree from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium.
Claudia Denkinger
Dr. Claudia Denkinger is the head of tuberculosis and hepatitis program at FIND. She completed her medical school training and doctoral thesis in immunology at the Julius-Maximilians University in Wuerzburg, Germany. She trained in internal medicine at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston and also was the chief medical resident there. She has worked in nongovernmental organizations in HIV and tuberculosis care in South Africa and South America. She holds a faculty appointment in the division of infectious disease at the BIDMC, Harvard Medical School.
