new report from the World Health Organization says that cases of drug resistant tuberculosis is running at an all time high. As the cases of TB resistant to drugs increase, it also increases the chances of tuberculosis spreading out of control. The highest levels of drug resistant TB cases are found just outside of the European union.
From the Guardian, writer Sarah Boseley gives us more details on the WHO report.
From the Guardian, writer Sarah Boseley gives us more details on the WHO report.
The report shows that one in four cases in parts of Russia are drug-resistant. The WHO estimates that 440,000 people worldwide had multi-drug-resistant forms of the disease (MDR-TB) in 2008, the last year for which there are complete figures, and that a third of them died. MDR-TB is defined as cases in which the two most commonly used and most effective drugs, isoniazid and rifampicin, do not kill the bacteria causing the disease.
More alarming is extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB), which was first identified in 2006 in a small group of people with HIV in South Africa, almost all of whom died. It is resistant not only to the two basic drugs but also to the second-line antibiotics, including fluoroquinolone, amikacin, kanamycin and capreomycin.
In poor areas such as KwaZulu-Natal, where XDR-TB was first seen, aggressive chemotherapy treatment lasting two years, which can still save lives, is unavailable.
The report warns that not enough is known even about the extent of drug-resistant TB and that the cost of checking the spread of the disease will be high.
Not all countries have the surveillance systems to pick up cases of XDR-TB, but in the 40 that were able to submit data to the WHO, 5.4% of all their drug-resistant cases were XDR-TB. In eight countries, such strains accounted for 10% of all resistant cases. So far, 58 countries have confirmed at least one case of XDR-TB.
Drug resistance in general is running at an all-time high, at 3.6% of all TB cases. Almost half of all the cases are in China and India. In 2008, an estimated 150,000 people died of drug-resistant TB.
A couple of viewpoints on Pakistan
As a preview the upcoming US-Pakistan talks in Washington, we have a couple of viewpoints on the link between terrorism and poverty in Pakistan.
With many living in poverty in Pakistan some of those poor become easy recruits to the Al-Qeada and Taliban operations based there. Due to frustration and anger over their living conditions, they join groups who want to take violent action against those who they feel are keeping them poor. However, many military and state leaders say there is no link between poverty and terrorism.
The US gives 1.5 million dollars a year in humanitarian aid to Pakistan.
From CNN's Christine Amanpour show blog, we get two viewpoints of poverty and terrorism in Pakistan, first from Roshaneh Zafar, of the Kashf Foundation, and second from our favorite financier Jacqueline Novogratz of the Acumen Fund. Writer Tom Evanssummarised the show on Pakistan.
With many living in poverty in Pakistan some of those poor become easy recruits to the Al-Qeada and Taliban operations based there. Due to frustration and anger over their living conditions, they join groups who want to take violent action against those who they feel are keeping them poor. However, many military and state leaders say there is no link between poverty and terrorism.
The US gives 1.5 million dollars a year in humanitarian aid to Pakistan.
From CNN's Christine Amanpour show blog, we get two viewpoints of poverty and terrorism in Pakistan, first from Roshaneh Zafar, of the Kashf Foundation, and second from our favorite financier Jacqueline Novogratz of the Acumen Fund. Writer Tom Evanssummarised the show on Pakistan.
"I personally think that addressing poverty, which is Pakistan's biggest problem today, is going to combat in some ways the issue of security that we face," Roshaneh Zafar, founder and president of the Kashf Foundation told CNN's Christiane Amanpour on Thursday.
"We worked with 1 million poor families across Pakistan, and we've seen what happens, the change that happens." She said even small increases in family incomes can transform society, because parents can then put their children in private schools.
"[By] putting in micro-finance, which is the most sustainable way of providing aid to low-income households, we are beginning to see a silent revolution take place both in terms of children going to school, their ability to actually transcend their social backgrounds and become professionals," she said.
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But Jacqueline Novogratz, founder and CEO of the Acumen Fund, which invests in development projects in Pakistan and elsewhere, cited the example of the huge progress she said is being made in housing construction in Pakistan as a result of initiatives by nonprofit organizations.
"I think that's where we're going to start seeing real scale. And then there's the scale of the human imagination," she said.
"Then there's the scale of frameworks that start with trust and credibility that both the United States and the Pakistan government have as an opportunity to show that they're there, that they care and they can make things happen."
