Friday, March 23, 2012

Blog #9: Funding cuts put 3.4 million TB patients at risk: NGOs



Over the next five years, $1.7 billion is being cut from the treatment of patients with tuberculosis (TB).  This cut will leave over 3.4 million patients going untreated for their disease. Around 1.5 million people die each year from the current worldwide pandemic TB . The highly contagious disease destroys patients’ lung tissue. This destruction of the lungs causes the patients to cough making the disease much easier to spread to others. The Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB, and Malaria has saved the lives of over 4.1 million people suffering from tuberculosis. Due to the budget cuts they no longer have the ability to expand their work against the infectious disease. They have been forced to cancel new grants and are unable to make any new funding until 2014. Not only does The Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB, and Malaria support the treatment of TB, they also play a huge role in the detecting of patients who carry the disease. “Since it was founded in 2002, the Global Fund says it has helped detect and treat 8.6 million cases of TB.” With their shortage of income, countries will be left “unable to aggressively tackle their TB epidemics”. The biggest worry of the Global Fund is that not having the same amount of resources they have had in the past is that it will affect all the work they have already done. With more and more patients receiving no treatment for the disease it will only cause the disease to spread even more. 
With the decline of the economy it is realistic that cuts have to be made somewhere but I think it is irrational that such large cuts are being made for a program that is working hard to end a worldwide pandemic like tuberculosis. I see it as a social problem that the economy is forced to cut funding to a program that saves many peoples’ lives each year. It is scary to me that so many tuberculosis patients are going to go untreated since it is such an contagious and deadly disease. I hope the economy will soon be able to provide the Global Fund with the amount of money they need in order to continue the treatment of TB patients and put an end to the worldwide pandemic. 



http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46829165/ns/health/#.T2zKeBxAh0E

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