Tuberculosis has joined HIV/AIDS as the top infectious disease killer on the planet, the World Health Organization announced Wednesday.
TB killed 1.5 million people in 2014, including 400,000 HIV/AIDS patients who died of TB-related complications. HIV/AIDS killed 1.2 million people last year.
Advertisement
TB and HIV/AIDS are "partners in crime" and often affect the same vulnerable groups of people, according to Eric Goosby, the U.N. special envoy on tuberculosis. Despite the diseases' similar death tolls, scientists and public health professionals confronting TB don't have as many resources as their allies fighting HIV/AIDS. In 2013, the global community invested just $5.3 billion in the campaign against TB, compared with the estimated $19.1 billion it spent to combat HIV/AIDS.
"They are killing at the same rate," said Dr. Mario Raviglione, the director of the WHO's Global TB Program, noting that "there is a real disproportionate funding level" for the disease. "In the end, TB deserves the same amount of attention as HIV/AIDS."
According to the 2015 Global Tuberculosis Report, an annual report compiled by the WHO and released this week, it would take $1.4 billion in additional treatment funding to address the global tuberculosis epidemic. Another $1.3 billion in research and development funds could provide better drugs and vaccine development.
"HIV has had all these resources, and it's great," said Cheri Vincent, chief of the infectious diseases division at the U.S. Agency for International Development. "They've been able turn around an epidemic in such a short period of time."
Advertisement
"TB needs something like that," she said. "We need to be able to invest, because the deaths are declining, they're just not declining at the rate that's acceptable to all of us."
While overall TB deaths are declining, multidrug-resistant TB -- which is resistant to the two first-line TB treatment drugs -- poses a growing threat, the WHO report notes. In 2014, an estimated 480,000 people contracted MDR-TB, which some experts call "airborne cancer."
Ultimately, it will take global action to stem the spread of TB, Goosby said.
"This new report is a wake-up call. No longer can we sit back and allow TB to be the stepchild in our global health efforts," he said. "TB is now the top of the leaderboard with HIV/AIDS. We can prevent treat and cure TB. TB often strikes the voiceless, those that suffer do it in silence. We need to be their voice … we need to accelerate the political backing and momentum."
How Tuberculosis Affects The Body
COMMON SYMPTOMS
A bad cough that lasts
more than three weeks
Fever
TB is spread when
you inhale the
bacteria in droplets
expelled when
someone infected
speaks or coughs.
Coughing up
blood or sputum
Weakness
or fatigue
Pain in the chest
No appetite
Weight loss
COURSE OF INFECTION
INFECTION
Can turn into either latent or active TB.
LATENT TB
In the initial stage of disease, called latent TB, TB bacteria remain alive,
but cannot spread to other tissue or people. Most infections will never
get past this stage. 10 percent of latent TB infections become active.
DEATH
ACTIVE TB
Active pulmonary TB
(TB in the lungs) is contagious.
Without treatment,
people who are HIV-
negative have a mean
10-year fatality rate
of 70 percent.
RECOVERY
A full course of TB
treatment takes
6 to 9 months of
taking several drugs.
Sources: CDC, PLoS One, WHO
Advertisement
Support HuffPost
Our 2024 Coverage Needs You
Your Loyalty Means The World To Us
At HuffPost, we believe that everyone needs high-quality journalism, but we understand that not everyone can afford to pay for expensive news subscriptions. That is why we are committed to providing deeply reported, carefully fact-checked news that is freely accessible to everyone.
Whether you come to HuffPost for updates on the 2024 presidential race, hard-hitting investigations into critical issues facing our country today, or trending stories that make you laugh, we appreciate you. The truth is, news costs money to produce, and we are proud that we have never put our stories behind an expensive paywall.
As Americans head to the polls in 2024, the very future of our country is at stake. At HuffPost, we believe that a free press is critical to creating well-informed voters. That's why our journalism is free for everyone, even though other newsrooms retreat behind expensive paywalls.
Our journalists will continue to cover the twists and turns during this historic presidential election. With your help, we'll bring you hard-hitting investigations, well-researched analysis and timely takes you can't find elsewhere. Reporting in this current political climate is a responsibility we do not take lightly, and we thank you for your support.
Thank you for your past contribution to HuffPost. We are sincerely grateful for readers like you who help us ensure that we can keep our journalism free for everyone.
The stakes are high this year, and our 2024 coverage could use continued support. Would you consider becoming a regular HuffPost contributor?
Dear HuffPost Reader
Thank you for your past contribution to HuffPost. We are sincerely grateful for readers like you who help us ensure that we can keep our journalism free for everyone.
The stakes are high this year, and our 2024 coverage could use continued support. If circumstances have changed since you last contributed, we hope you’ll consider contributing to HuffPost once more.