Canada and U.S. should lead global TB battle

In an interconnected world, no place safe from spread of disease, write Chitra Ramaswami and Oscar Lanzi.

Tuberculosis (TB) is the world’s deadliest infectious disease, killing more than 1.7 million people every year. It is curable, but largely neglected and underfunded.

Of the more than 10 million people who catch TB each year, 40 per cent are never diagnosed, continuing to suffer from and transmit the disease. To make matters worse, TB is becoming resistant to our best drugs.

It is estimated that TB could claim a further 75 million lives by 2050, at a cost of US$16.7 trillion to the global economy. Canada and the United States have the power to change this bleak outcome by providing leadership and resources to end this disease.

In Canada, the death this year of a 14-year-old boy from TB has highlighted the fact that the incidence of TB among Canada’s Indigenous people is on par with that of the worst-affected parts of the world.

While Canada has made a welcome commitment to ending the burden of TB in Canada’s north, the efforts cannot stop there, but must expand worldwide. TB is an airborne disease that knows no borders and can spread very rapidly. In an interconnected world, no place is safe.

Just last month, a confirmed case of TB was found in a Calgary school, and Alberta Health Services issued notices for testing and follow-up care to 81 people who might have been exposed. Canada needs to invest in global TB control, to protect the future health of all Canadians.

In the United States, TB rates are low overall but at-risk communities remain, especially in densely populated urban areas. Chicago recorded more than 100 TB cases in 2017, more than double the rate of the rest of Illinois.

Elevated TB risks in jails is one reason the Cook County prison system tests all inmates for TB — a resource and cost that could be saved by eradicating TB globally. Like Canada, the United States has much to gain by providing funding for effective TB programs and research.

The persistence of TB in Canada and around the world not only imposes a high economic burden, but is also a violation of fundamental human rights. This is because TB is both a cause and a consequence of poverty, thriving where marginalized communities live in conditions of inadequate housing, poor nutrition, and lack of access to basic health services. This year, there is a unique opportunity to get a grip on ending this injustice.

World leaders will gather in New York on Sept. 26 for the first ever United Nations high-level meeting on TB. They will need to make a plan to find the untreated cases of TB, develop better treatments, and agree on a way to hold all countries accountable for delivering their promises on TB.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau should attend the meeting and make serious commitments about how Canada will play its part in the fight.

Canada and the United States need to provide strong global leadership to achieve the goal of eradicating TB by 2030. This is vital for the health of both our nations, and for people around the world.

Our two nations haven’t agreed much on trade recently, but hopefully we can agree on the need to work together to end TB.

Chitra Ramaswami and Oscar Lanzi are advocates with RESULTS, a worldwide movement of ordinary citizens who take action in the fight against poverty. Ramaswami is based in Calgary and Lanzi is based in Chicago.