The UK will contribute US$ 74 million for combating tuberculosis (TB) in India. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation also plans to raise its global funding to fight TB to over US$ 900 million by the year 2015. As many as 8 million people across the world get infected by TB every year, and the disease also claims 2 million lives annually.
The announcement of the two funding commitments follows the UN publication of the ‘Global Plan to Stop Tuberculosis’, which sets out a plan of action to tackle the global tuberculosis epidemic, according to a statement issued by the WHO.Despite India's fast expanding tuberculosis control program, every year about 1.8 million people develop the disease, of which about 800,000 are infectious, and until recently, 400,000 died of it - 1,000 every day, according to the country’s Health Ministry Data.
