MPs call on May to take charge in battle against TB

THERESA MAY has been urged to take a lead in the global battle against tuberculosis as countries worldwide struggle to contain an “escalating epidemic”.

More than 100 MPs, including Damian Green, the Prime Minister’s former deputy, and Kenneth Clarke, the former chancellor, have written to Mrs May calling on her to attend a UN summit in September that offers an “unprecedented opportunity to turn the tide against this terrible disease”.

Warning that the UK remains a “TB hotspot” in Europe, the MPs state that the country can play a “powerful” role in “showing the leadership which the world needs to beat TB”.

The letter, seen by The Sunday Telegraph, comes after figures released last month showed that Europe has seen an alarming rise in the number of almost untreatable cases of tuberculosis, with countries in the east being particularly at risk.