The Financial Times published a special report (.pdf) titled “Combating Tuberculosis” in recognition of World TB Day, March 24.

Financial Times: TB, disease of the poor, now threatens the rich
“…[T]oday, even though it kills 1.3 million people a year, TB is the poor relation of global diseases, struggling to match the resources attracted by more high-profile causes such as HIV…” (Ward, 3/24).

Financial Times: Stubborn new TB strains threaten to reverse progress
“…In some countries, up to 20 percent of new cases are resistant to at least two of the four drugs contained in the standard combination treatment for TB — the definition of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB)…” (Ward, 3/24).

Financial Times: South African health minister: strong alliances needed to end TB
“…Nearly nine million people fell ill with tuberculosis in 2012 around the world. More than one million died. We are not reaching the vast majority of people who are at risk. … Poor countries with high rates of drug-resistant TB cannot tackle it alone. The human and economic costs of not doing enough to combat TB is simply too grave to accept” (Motsoaledi, 3/24).

Financial Times: Linezolid, a potential new TB cure, is trapped in a Catch-22
“It is expensive, inaccessible, poorly tested and potentially toxic with side effects including intense pain. But linezolid offers rare hope in the desperate search for treatments to tackle the worst cases of TB…” (Jack, 3/24).

Financial Times: TB reappears in developed world
“…The infection is often thought to have been purged from the developed world. But London is western Europe’s TB capital. Some boroughs have incidence rates comparable with those of Nigeria, Mali, Brazil, and Iraq…” (Jacobs, 3/24).

Financial Times: Genetics offers route to cure TB
“Around the world, laboratories are working to make up for time lost during the late 20th century, when tuberculosis was ignored or seen as a health problem that had gone away…” (Cookson, 3/24).

Financial Times: Big pharma balks at investment in TB
“For an industry so often on the back foot over ethical issues, the approval last year of the first tuberculosis drug in 40 years was a chance to trumpet Big Pharma’s positive role in tackling global health problems…” (Ward, 3/24).

Financial Times: Mining companies must step up fight against TB
“Seven years ago, the picture of tuberculosis infection among workers at Anglo American’s coal mines was relatively grim: the incidence rate stood at about 900 people per 100,000 — above the rate for South Africa as a whole at the time, despite the countrywide rate having tripled in the previous decade…” (Jacobs, 3/24).