Tragic TB death a stark reminder of real threat

Ignoring tuberculosis in Australia has been easy for most of us.

After all, it doesn't sound like a very 21^stcentury disease. Surely by now we have relegated it to the pages of classical literature?

Yet the recent death of a woman in Queensland from a dangerous strain of TB that can take years to cure should serve as a serious wake-up call.

This airborne killer is potentially on the rise if we don't act decisively to check it now.

Drug-resistant strains from India to South Africa to the USA are making international headlines, including a recent TIME magazine cover.

Yet despite all this, in Australia, the threat can still seem remote. It shouldn't.

New Yorkers were not expecting TB to rip through their city in the 1980s, when infections doubled from 23 in every 100,000 to 50 between 1984 and 1991.

Today, our neighbours in the Asia Pacific region are home to approximately 60 per cent of all TB cases in the world.

The problem of TB in Papua New Guinea is very much our problem, given its proximity to Australian territories in the Torres Strait. 20-year-old Catherina Abraham from PNG became Australia's first victim of the dangerous strain of TB when she passed away in Queensland in March.

In fact, 4,000 people across the planet still die every day from TB. Fake drugs, drug shortages, and general political neglect fuel the spread of TB and allow drug-resistant forms to evolve.

Yet despite the alarming numbers, for the first time in human history wiping TB from the face of the earth is actually within our grasp.

We have the knowledge and ideas to get to zero TB deaths and zero new TB infections within most lifetimes.

Our best chance for ending TB globally is by supporting the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, which directs international funding to fight these three diseases in countries that are in most need.

The Global Fund provides 90 per cent of external funding to the global TB fight, with 9.7 million people having received TB treatment thanks to its investments.

The Global Fund plays a critical role in combating TB in our region, providing more than $1.5 billion for TB since 2002 and enabling five million people to be treated and tested. Currently, neighbouring countries, like Indonesia and PNG, rely on the Global Fund to provide around 90 per cent of the money for their TB programs.

So surely, with considerable runs on the board and the finish line in sight, our Federal Government would be doing everything possible to end this deadly threat in our region?

Unfortunately, no. In fact, the Global Fund was one of the first casualties of the decision late last year to slash Australia's foreign aid budget to the tune of $375 million. It is a decision that will likely result in lives lost.

$11 million was withdrawn from promised aid funding to the Global Fund, even as TB cases in PNG rose and drug-resistant strains popped up across the region.

With much of the world economy still struggling to regain its feet, the global fight against TB still faces a funding gap of $8 billion over the next three years.

If Australia and the rest of the world don't pay now to end TB, we will end up paying far more - in dollars and in lives - down the track.

Treating TB's drug-resistant forms can cost up to 200 times more than treating drug-sensitive TB. The outbreak of multiple drug-resistant TB in New York in the 80s was estimated to cost over $US1 billion.

This year, the Global Fund will be looking for a replenishment of its funding for the next three years.

It is now the time to redouble our efforts in order to build on gains already made so that our region and the world can be finally free from this ancient killer disease.

Catherina's heartbreaking passing should serve as salient reminder to our government about what is at risk and what can be achieved with relatively little effort.

We owe it to the future to act decisively today.