Target tuberculosis in rich world as model for poor: WHO

By Stephanie Nebehay GENEVA (Reuters) – The World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday launched an ambitious plan for rich countries to sharply reduce tuberculosis infections and serve as a model for harder-hit countries of Africa and Asia, where the disease still thrives. It is in these communities that industrialised countries including the United States could pilot approaches to a disease that is both preventable and curable that could then be transferred to poorer countries, Dr. Mario Raviglione, director of the WHO’s Global TB Programme, told a news briefing. “We are after, really, is finding what we call trailblazers or model countries that would embark in a resolute way on this campaign against tuberculosis, proving that it is indeed possible to get to elimination level,” Raviglione said. Of the 155,000 annual new cases of tuberculosis in the target countries, about 500 are multi-drug resistant (MDR-TB), caused by an extreme superbug form of the bacterium that does not respond to the most powerful first-line drugs.