PRESS CONFERENCE TO LAUNCH 2007 GLOBAL TUBERCULOSIS CONTROL REPORT

Contrary to common belief, tuberculosis had not been wiped out but was killing 5,000 people per day, helped by the spread of highly drug-resistant strains in countries ranging from those in east and south of Africa to industrialized countries such as Italy and the United States, correspondents learned this morning, at a Headquarters press conference to mark the launch of the 2007 Global TB Control Report.

At the press conference given by Jorge Sampaio, the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy to Stop Tuberculosis and former President of Portugal, and Mario Raviglione, Director of the World Health Organization’s Stop TB Department, correspondents were told that multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis had now been detected in most countries.  Called MDR tuberculosis, that strain was resistant to the two most powerful first-line drugs available, and could be found in high levels in China and parts of the former Soviet Union. 

An even more dangerous strain of tuberculosis, called XDR tuberculosis, had recently emerged in 35 countries and was resistant to second-line drugs, Mr. Raviglione stated.  As many as 9 out of 10 tuberculosis patients would normally survive the disease, but, if infected by MDR tuberculosis, only 6 out of 10 could expect to be cured.  Not enough was known about the cure rate of the extremely drug-resistant XDR strain, found mostly in industrialized countries, which had already claimed four deaths in Italy.  A few hundred cases of XDR tuberculosis had been reported in urban areas of the United States, probably due to poor treatment of MDR cases, an official from Mr. Raviglione’s office added. 

Developing countries faced added complications, correspondents learned.  According to Mr. Raviglione, diagnosing XDR tuberculosis was “extremely complex”, requiring methods not yet available in many developing countries.  In addition, HIV-positive people were more vulnerable to developing the disease once they were exposed to tuberculosis-causing agents, and traditional tell-tale signs of the illness -- such as lesions in the lungs -- could be obscured if the patient also suffered from AIDS, making it more difficult to control the spread of tuberculosis in countries where HIV infection was rampant.

Unlike AIDS, tuberculosis was curable, Mr. Sampaio pointed out.  But, even if the disease was properly diagnosed, some countries had problems delivering medicines to sufferers, making it essential to develop more effective health-care services directed at tuberculosis.  With HIV/AIDS, “we have the antiretrovirals, but we do not have the cure.  With tuberculosis, it is a curable disease”.  He stressed that Governments ought to place tuberculosis higher on the global political agenda.

Mr. Raviglione said the World Health Organization had aimed to eliminate tuberculosis by 2050, and that some $650 million would be needed to tackle tuberculosis in 2007.  For instance, developing countries needed equipment, and training in their use, for diagnosing the disease in line with the World Health Organization’s “DOTS” programme -- that agency’s internationally-recommended tuberculosis control strategy.

The Lilly pharmaceutical corporation, stated its Senior Vice-President of Corporate Strategy and Policy, Gino Santini, had been on the brink of ending production of antibiotics to treat tuberculosis.  Instead, it had decided to transfer its know-how to China, India, South Africa and Russia, which were among the world’s high-incidence countries.  The effort would cost the company $50 million in the next four years, in addition to $70 million already invested, and was expected to result in the production of generic second-line drugs by those countries.  The company would also train specialists there to diagnose and treat the disease.

Also speaking to correspondents were James Nachtwey, award-winning photographer, and Anna Cataldi, United Nations Messenger of Peace, who were responsible for putting together a photographic exhibit on tuberculosis at the United Nations, scheduled to run for one month.

Ms. Cataldi, who is an Italian journalist, had conducted research on the disease and written a historical overview to serve as commentary for Mr. Nachtwey’s exhibition.  She noted that treatment for non-MDR and non-XDR tuberculosis typically took six months, involving drugs costing only $20.  Yet, despite the availability of such inexpensive medicine, 5,000 people continued to die every day from the disease.  “This is a question of distribution,” she said, referring to the inefficient supply of drugs in the market.

Mr. Nachtwey said he had tried through the exhibit, which had been put together with the help of the United Nations Department of Public Information, to convey the “inescapable connection between tuberculosis and AIDS”.

Noting that three of the Millennium Development Goals were health related, Mr. Sampaio appealed to journalists to help mobilize public opinion against the disease, saying that tuberculosis needed “permanent advocacy”. 

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For information media • not an official record