Abstract
Tuberculosis (TB) is now the leading cause of death from infectious disease. On September 26, 2018, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly holds its first high-level meeting on TB, a once-in-a-lifetime chance to commit governments around the world to redouble their TB control efforts. Here I share impressions from a preparatory meeting at the UN in June and make the case for basic research as a central component of any future TB control strategy. The pathogen that causes TB, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, is still largely a mystery. But if we do not understand the basic, fundamental workings of the pathogen, we cannot hope to develop 21st century interventions for the disease.
Highlights
We will miss the World Health Organization’s 2035 TB elimination goal by around 150 years. We cannot change this trajectory without expanding our investments in basic research, as our current tools to prevent, diagnose, and treat TB are hopelessly outdated
Some of the most wrenching stories were told by TB survivors, like the young Peruvian man whose TB cost him half his lung and his siblings’ education as the family struggled for years to pay for his treatment
We cannot figure out how to make drugs that are resistant to resistance without basic research
Summary
OPEN ACCESS Citation: Grundner C (2018) To fight tuberculosis, fund basic research. A watershed moment is desperately needed, because we are losing that fight. We cannot change this trajectory without expanding our investments in basic research, as our current tools to prevent, diagnose, and treat TB are hopelessly outdated.
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