World TB Day - March 24, 2006

Mother of Sahnas Khatoon, 18, newly diagnosed TB patient in Bangladesh. TB is a disease of poverty. Virtually all TB deaths are in the developing world affecting mostly young adults in their most productive years. Source: WHO/TBP/Davenport

Tuberculosis is one of the world’s deadliest infectious diseases, responsible for approximately 2 million deaths each year. Nearly 9 million active TB cases occur annually among the estimated 2 billion people worldwide (or about one-third of the world’s population) who are infected with the TB microbe. Developing countries account for 95 percent of these cases and 98 percent of all TB deaths. Most of TB’s victims in the developing world are young adults in their most productive years – the disease thus has a major impact in poor countries struggling to advance economically. TB is a major killer of women of reproductive age also and a leading cause of death in people who have HIV infection, accounting for one-third of AIDS deaths worldwide.

Although TB prevalence and deaths are starting to fall in many countries, the disease is still worsening in sub-Saharan Africa, where it is fueled by HIV/AIDS. In some parts of the world, including Eastern Europe, Eurasia, and Southeast Asia, resistance to TB treatment drugs is a serious problem that poses new challenges to TB control.

USAID is a leader in the global fight against TB. Through USAID, the United States is the world’s leading bilateral TB donor. USAID staff have leadership positions in the global Stop TB Partnership and played an important role in developing the Partnership’s new Global Plan to Stop TB, 2006 – 2015, a widely acclaimed plan for action announced at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, earlier this year. With full implementation, this new 10-year plan will treat 50 million people for TB, halve TB prevalence, and save 14 million lives.

In a statement marking today’s World TB Day observances, USAID Assistant Administrator for Global Health Dr. Kent Hill declared that “the main challenge now is to translate plans and strategies into action. It is crucial that all countries and regions move forward to implement the Global Plan, and USAID is ready to work with the countries and the other partners of Stop TB to help make that plan a reality.”

News and Information on Tuberculosis

• On World Tuberculosis Day, USAID Provides $1 Million to the "Stop TB Partnership" - 3/24/06
• Tuberculosis Country Profiles
• USAID's Expanded Response to Tuberculosis [PDF, 236KB]
• World Health Organization (WHO) World TB Day 2006
  • WHO launches New StopTB Strategy to Fight the Global Tuberculosis Epidemic
• The Stop TB Partnership
  Stop TB is a global movement to accelerate social and political action to stop the unnecessary spread of tuberculosis around the world.
  • StopTB Global Plan

Related Links

• Global Alliance for TB Drug Development
  The Alliance's mission is to ensure equitable access to a faster tuberculosis cure that will advance global health and prosperity.
• International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (IUATLD)
  The Union's mission is to prevent and control TB and lung disease, as well as related health problems, on a worldwide basis, with emphasis on low-income countries.
• The Stop TB Partnership
  Stop TB is a global movement to accelerate social and political action to stop the unnecessary spread of tuberculosis around the world.
• The Tuberculosis Coalition for Technical Assistance (TBCTA)
  TBCTA provides consultation and technical assistance to USAID’s Field Missions, Global and Regional Bureaus, as well as public and private Stop TB Partnership partners.
• Tuberculosis Drug Access and Management Can Save Millions