Tuberculosis: a global Review

Abstract

Together with HIV/AIDS and malaria, tuberculosis (TB) is recognised as one of the most important threats to human health. There are around 9 million new cases of TB every year, resulting in up to 2 million deaths. Key issues in combating global TB include the emergence of strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis that are resistant to available drugs, synergy with the HIV pandemic, and a historical shortage of funding for both research and disease control (1). In 2006, the Global Partnership to Stop TB launched a 10-year plan designed to address the aims set out in the UN Millennium Development Goals. The Global Plan to Stop TB envisages saving 14 million lives by effective treatment of 50 million people, and aims to cut the global burden of TB in half by the year 2015 (2).