(March 24, 2016, New York, USA) – Today, to coincide with World TB Day, Vital Strategies calls on government leaders, development organizations, health workers, scientists and advocates to unite to end TB.
According to the World Health Organization, 2.4 billion people—one third of the world’s population—are infected with tuberculosis. Each day, 26,000 cases are diagnosed and 4,100 people die. TB bears a much higher burden on those living in low- and middle-income countries.
The world’s most vulnerable citizens are the most susceptible to TB: women and children, the very poor, the malnourished, those already infected with HIV/AIDS, indigenous populations and the elderly. As the incidence of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis continues to rise around the world, the cost to treat this disease, and the ability to survive it, only gets farther out of reach.
It is for this reason that the challenge of ending tuberculosis by 2030 must be fought on multiple fronts.
José Luis Castro, President and Chief Executive Officer, Vital Strategies, said: “With so much progress in the fight against TB, it is now more important than ever to combine our efforts, and unite to address all issues that allow TB to continue to harm and take the lives of thousands of people every year. It is an unforgivable tragedy to allow a preventable, treatable disease to continue to infect 9.6 million people every year, and to kill 1.5 million of those infected.
“That’s why we must all come to the table. We need to invest in research that will reduce the length of treatment regimens. We need to ensure that the world’s most vulnerable people have affordable access to quality treatment. We need to improve detection, and reduce the number of tuberculosis cases that go undetected every year from 3 million to zero.
“There is no reason that we can not eradicate tuberculosis in our lifetime. But we can only do it by working together.”
About Vital Strategies
Vital Strategies envisions a world where every person is protected by a strong public health system. Our team combines evidence-based strategies with innovation to help develop sound public health policies, manage programs efficiently, strengthen data systems, conduct research, and design strategic communication campaigns for policy and behavior change. Vital Strategies was formed when The Union North America and World Lung Foundation joined forces. It is an affiliate of The International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union).
To find out more, please visit vitalstrategies.org or Twitter @VitalStrat
For further information please contact Dane Svenson at dsvenson@vitalstrategies.org