U.N. to Double Spending to End Tuberculosis

September 27, 2018

New York- The U.N. General Assembly approved a draft political declaration to double annual spending to end tuberculosis, in its first-ever high-level meeting on the disease Wednesday.

Under the draft, the annual budget to fight the world's deadliest infectious disease is set to expand to 13 billion dollars.

The draft, approved at the meeting, cochaired by Japan, also includes a plan to provide a total of 40 million people with medical checkups and treatments for tuberculosis by 2022.

"To end the epidemic and stop the global public health crisis of drug-resistant TB, we need better health and social welfare systems," U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed told the meeting.

According to the World Health Organization, an estimated 10 million people contracted tuberculosis in 2017. The disease killed 1.6 million that year, including those also infected with HIV. Jiji Press