| ■ WHO Wants $2 Billion to Fight Drug-Resistant TB | 07.07.02 |
| The World Health Organization (WHO) is asking for $2.15 billion to battle drug-resistant strains of tuberculosis in order to prevent a possible future epidemic. At a meeting in Geneva with journalists, WHO tuberculosis expert Paul Nunn said that between 400,000 and 450,000 people worldwide have multi-drug resistant TB (MDR-TB) and 25,000 to 30,000 have the more severe extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB), Agence France-Presse reported. The WHO wants the funding for a program that seeks to improve diagnosis and treatment of "basic" TB before drug resistance occurs and to develop treatments for drug-resistant TB strains. This approach could prevent 134,000 MDR-TB- and XDR-TB-related deaths over the next two years. If action isn't taken, Nunn warned that there could eventually be millions of drug-resistant TB cases worldwide each year, which would represent a "return to the pre-antibiotic era," AFP reported. |