TB and global health

In addition to your article on Bill Gates, the most generous philanthropist in history in The Jakarta Post on Feb. 15, I would like to share the following information provided by Reuters on Feb. 13, 2004:

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, has donated US$82.9 million to support research to prevent tuberculosis (TB). Bill Gates was obviously moved by the devastating health and economic consequences of TB, its effect on developing countries, and its continued tragic impact on global health.

"The grant will more than double the amount of money spent annually on TB vaccine research", Dr. Richard Klausner, executive director of the foundation's Global Health program, said at the at the opening session of the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting held in Seattle.

Among infectious diseases, TB remains the second leading killer of adults in the world, with more than two million TB- related deaths each year. More than two billion people are infected with the TB pathogen. Although the TB problem can be solved by implementing the Directly Observed Treatment, Short-course (or DOTS) strategy, most treatment drugs are unavailable to poorer countries, and scientists have argued that a vaccine for the airborne bacterial disease could sharply reduce global infection rates.

DR MUHERMAN HARUN
Jakarta