$44 billion needed by 2015 to control TB, health officials say at close of stop TB partnership forum

About 1,300 health officials on Wednesday at the close of the 3rd Stop TB Partnership Forum in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, said that $44 billion is "needed from now until 2015 to reach" World Health Organization targets aimed at controlling the disease in the 22 countries with the highest TB burden worldwide, AFP/Google.com reports.

Delegates at the forum called for increased resources to fight the disease. According to AFP/Google.com, the Stop TB Partnership plans to allocate $56 billion from 2006 to 2015 for research on TB vaccines, prevention and control, with the goal of preventing 14 million TB-related deaths.

Delegates at the conference also urged governments to not reduce funding for TB programs because of the economic downturn. "Investments in HIV, TB and malaria are delivering results but major challenges remain," health ministers said at the forum, adding, "Our health systems need to be strengthened in order to sustain the gains made against TB and address emerging threats such as multi-drug resistant TB and the increasingly heavy burden of the TB/HIV coepidemic."

WHO next week in Beijing is hosting a meeting of the 27 countries that account for 85% of MDR-TB cases worldwide, including Bangladesh, China, India, Russia and South Africa, AFP/Google.com reports (AFP/Google.com, 3/26).