Statement from the Executive Secretary of the Stop TB Partnership about the WHO 2011 Global Tuberculosis Control Report
The lower estimates for TB cases and deaths may inspire complacency
We welcome release of the WHO 2011 Global Tuberculosis Control Report, with its more precise approach to estimating the global burden of TB, as a critical contribution from WHO to the entire TB community and Stop TB Partnership. This is where WHO excels.
At the same time, we worry that the lower estimates for TB cases and deaths may inspire complacency. We have by no means won the war against TB, and in many ways the battle has just started if we are to pave the way towards elimination. Let us not forget that nearly 9 million people are still becoming ill with TB each year, that 3 million cases are not detected and treated and almost one and a half million people are dying of this curable disease. As long as we have three people that die with TB every minute and 10 million children in the world who have been orphaned because a parent died of TB we can not afford to declare victory just yet!
The report predicts that donor funding will reach US$ 600 million in 2012. This is completely inadequate and almost US$ 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 US$ 2 billion. This. without adding the significant gap for research and development of more than US$ 1 billion.
Stop TB Partnership
