TB a global threat

THE lung infection tuberculosis poses a major global health threat. To raise awareness, the Journal of the American Medical Association published a special theme issue on the disease recently. “It will take the will and resources of the entire world to eradicate this global problem,” JAMA Editor in Chief Dr Catherine DeAngelis and Managing Deputy Editor Annette Flanagin wrote in an editorial. 

The largest number of cases occurs in the South-East Asia region, which accounts for 33% of incident cases globally. However, the estimated incidence per capita in the sub-Saharan Africa is nearly twice that of South-East Asia at 350 cases per 100,000 population1.