The burden of multidrug and extensively drug resistant tuberculosis might be underevaluated among Nepalis, threatening bordering countries. Sophie Cousins reports from Kathmandu.

Bovine tuberculosis destroys livelihoods and is hampering efforts to achieve the End TB Strategy goal of tuberculosis elimination by 2030. Sophie Cousins reports on efforts to stamp out this neglected infectious disease.

Newly published estimates on child mortality from tuberculosis paint a dismal picture. Almost 200,000 children under 5 died of TB globally in 2015, a far higher number than previously thought and enough to place TB among the top 10 causes of child mortality worldwide, according to the September 2017 issue of the Lancet. Yet, nearly all the children who died from the disease did not receive treatment, indicating a “substantial scope to reduce this burden,” the article said. Therefore, despite the currently dire situation, there is a silver lining for countries that are bearing the heaviest burden of the disease.

Last year I met Saw Robert, a bus driver from Myanmar undergoing treatment for multiple-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB), at a Médecins Sans Frontières clinic in Yangon.

Every Monday Dr. Zarir Udwadia runs a free tuberculosis clinic at P.D. Hinduja hospital in Mumbai, the forefront of India’s drug-resistant epidemic.