Wall Street Journal examines drug-resistant TB

The Wall Street Journal examines global efforts to stop the spread of drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) strains, stating, "Global health officials view the emergence of incurable cases of tuberculosis in India as a worrisome evolution in a trend they have been concerned and intensely frustrated about for years -- the rise of drug resistant forms of tuberculosis around the world." The newspaper notes that "last year, a Mumbai doctor reported several cases of TB resistant to the 12 most commonly used medicines," and adds that "[a]s many as 4.8 percent of all tuberculosis cases are resistant to at least some available drugs, according to a recent study." The newspaper discusses WHO guidelines to prevent the spread of TB and writes, "Lucica Ditiu, executive secretary of the Geneva-based Stop TB Partnership, an advocacy organization whose members include the World Health Organization, the CDC and others, says only localized action by the countries themselves will bring rates of drug-resistant TB down" (Shah/Anand/McKay, 9/7).

In a separate article, the Wall Street Journal profiles Rahima Sheikh, "one of India's first documented cases of TB that is resistant to virtually all the medicines approved to treat it." The newspaper writes, "Over the past six years, Mrs. Sheikh, 40 years old, mortgaged her family's rice fields, spent her father's and brother's life savings, and crisscrossed India in search of a cure for tuberculosis," adding, "The Wall Street Journal reviewed years of Mrs. Sheikh's medical records, interviewed her doctors and TB workers across India and traveled with her as she pursued treatment." According to the news service, "Her six-year journey to all-but-incurable TB exposes a blind spot in an Indian medical bureaucracy that, for decades, neglected to implement widespread testing or treatment for drug-resistant strains" (Anand/Shah/McKay, 9/8).