Committed action, continued funding needed in global campaign against TB

A Lancet editorial responds to WHO's sixteenth annual report on global tuberculosis (TB) control, released on Oct 11, which shows that the incidence of tuberculosis has been falling worldwide since 2002, writing, "Successes in disease control in China and other countries show what sustained political and economic support can achieve. Rather than waiting for the elixir of economic success to arrive in all high-burden countries, committed action by donors, agencies, and governments in the most challenging settings is needed in the global campaign against tuberculosis."

According to the editorial, "[d]onor funding of about $600 million for tuberculosis control is expected in 2012, which Lucica Ditiu, executive secretary of the Stop TB Partnership, argues is 'completely inadequate and almost $1.5 billion short, when you consider that the funding gap for meeting the 2012 implementation targets of the Global Plan to Stop TB remains $2 billion.'" The editorial adds, "Although more than 80 percent of this donor funding is provided by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, comparative figures for malaria ($1.8 billion in 2009) and HIV/AIDS ($6.9 billion in 2010) suggest that tuberculosis programs have struggled to attract external support" (10/20).