A couple of years ago a reporter asked me how I, as the U.N.’s special envoy on Tuberculosis, could emphatically state that TB was a threat to the security of the United States. I often get asked this question, and before giving an answer an agreement must be reached on the definition of global health security.

When I was in South Africa last year I had the opportunity to hear the story of Juliet, a young Ugandan woman who on the day she had heard the joyous news that she was expecting twins, she also discovered that she was living with HIV. Fearing that she would be ostracized by her husband, family and friends, she did not disclose her status and did not return for medication, finding it difficult to justify repeated monthly visits to the clinic, particularly given the family’s limited resources. After five months she became very ill with tuberculosis (TB) and for the same reasons found it difficult to adhere to treatment. When the twins were born, one tragically fell sick and died at four months. When the second one became ill with TB, she finally sought the care she and her baby needed.

A giant ribbon will not hang in front of the White House. No marches will be held. The lights on the Empire State building will not shine a special color. Instead, March 24th - World TB Day -is just like most any other day. Little attention will be paid to the fact that tuberculosis is now the number one infectious disease killer in the world.

Following the presentation of the White House budget on February 9 that proposed a debilitating cut to tuberculosis responses, former U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator and now UN Special Envoy on Tuberculosis Ambassador Eric P. Goosby counts the reasons that resources to fight TB matter now more than ever. The National Action Plan for Combating Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis recently put forward by the same administration now facing the real prospect of becoming no more “than words on a page.”

The news that tuberculosis -- a treatable and curable disease -- now ranks alongside HIV as the leading infectious disease killer worldwide should be a wake-up call to us all.