Blog Post 8: Increased Funding Needed to Fight Global TB

World Health Organization and Global Fund Cite Tuberculosis Threat

March 18, 2013
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2013/tuberculosis_threat_20130318/en

The World Health Organization (WHO) has released a news statement citing a critical need for increased funding to fight tuberculosis. The ongoing spread of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) is compounding the difficulties in fighting TB around the globe. The amount of additional funding needed is about 1.6 billion U.S. dollars in addition to the average annual budget dedicated to TB programs. One of the greatest concerns is that if screening and treatment programs are not strengthened now, the future costs of treating a global pandemic of MDR-TB could grow exponentially. Major goals of WHO TB initiatives include reducing suffering, transmission and mortality. The number of people living with TB around the globe has been decreasing steadily in recent years but progress has been slow. In 2011, 1.4 million people died from TB and it is estimated that 630,000 people are infected with MDR-TB. Africa is hardest hit by the TB pandemic and has the highest infection rates per capita in the world, accounting for 60% of the increased budget needs. High rates of HIV infection and malaria in Africa contribute to the persistence and severity of tuberculosis.

Analysis

This report highlights the need for wealthier, developed countries to cooperate and donate through global organizations to fight critical diseases in less developed countries. The globe’s poorest countries are those that consistently suffer the highest rates of infectious diseases. These diseases persist, especially in Africa, due to low sanitation standards, lack of health education and limited availability of quality health care. Higher death rates and lower life spans contribute to overall economic and social instability across sub-Saharan Africa. These factors are also part of the phenomena that drive high birth rates in response to high death rates in developing countries categorized in stage I of the demographic transition model.

Antony L Cochran

SOC 202-02

03/24/2013, 19:50