The agency is appealing for the collection of more than $2 billion to implement the plan, which if done on time, could save as many as 134,000 lives over the next two years.
WHO officials are worried that if the current epidemic of curable TB is not controlled on time, it might evolve into a drug-resistant variety immune to existing medicines. There are nearly nine million new cases of tuberculosis every year, according to agency reports.
Voice of America quotes the director of WHO's Stop TB Department, Mario Raviglione, as saying, "If then, a patient at a certain point develops a form of TB that is not just multi-drug resistant, i.e. resistant to the basic treatment, but also now resistant to additional, second-line drugs, you are facing what is called XDR-TB or extensively drug-resistant TB."
WHO plans to control the spread of XDR-TB by strengthening programs to treat the disease and expanding infection control and surveillance measures. The agency also plans to aid countries build up the capacity of their laboratories to diagnose the disease.
So far, 37 countries have confirmed cases of XDR-TB. WHO estimates there are 25,000 to 30,000 new cases every year. Experts estimate that it will take at least five to 10 years before new drugs are available to treat extensively drug-resistant TB.
