WHO's 2013 global report on tuberculosis: successes, threats, and opportunities

Abstract

Tuberculosis has been a global public health emergency since 1993. 1 WHOTB—a global emergency. WHO press release WHO/31. April 23, 1993. World Health Organization, Geneva1993 Google Scholar In 2006 WHO launched the Stop TB strategy, which was linked to the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 6 target of reversing the spread of tuberculosis by 2015. 2 WHOMDG 6: combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases. http://www.who.int/topics/millennium_development_goals/diseases/en/ Google Scholar WHO's Global Tuberculosis Report 2013, 3 WHOGlobal tuberculosis report 2013. World Health Organization, Geneva2013http://www.who.int/tb/publications/global_report/en/index.html Google Scholar published on Oct 23, provides a comprehensive assessment of the current tuberculosis pandemic, and assesses progress in implementing tuberculosis services and control measures at country, regional, and global levels. 3 WHOGlobal tuberculosis report 2013. World Health Organization, Geneva2013http://www.who.int/tb/publications/global_report/en/index.html Google Scholar The report details some striking successes towards achieving MDG 6 and related 2015 targets for global tuberculosis control. It also identifies specific areas of concern for which urgent political and funder attention is required. Mozambique faces challenges in the fight against tuberculosisThe 2013 Global Tuberculosis Report1 provides an up-to-date snapshot of the tuberculosis epidemic across the world. In their Comment, Alimuddin Zumla and colleagues (Nov 30, p 1765)2 summarise the major achievements in tuberculosis control. However, most of these successes have not been seen in some high-burden countries such as Mozambique and specific issues need to be highlighted. Full-Text PDF