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null The end of tuberculosis? Mind the gap! (February 27, 2019)

The end of tuberculosis? Mind the gap! (February 27, 2019)

Where: At the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI‑MUHC) Glen Site, block E, room M1.3509, 1001 Decarie Boulevard, Montreal, Quebec H4A 3J1

When: Wednesday, February 27, 12–1 p.m.


Speaker: Prof. Dr. med. Dr. h.c. Christoph Lange
Chief Physician and Medical Director, Research Center Borstel, Leibniz Lung Center, Borstel, Germany
Professor and Chair of Respiratory Medicine & International Health, University of Lübeck, Germany
Foreign Professor at the Department of Medicine, Karolinska University, Stockholm Sweden
Visiting Professor at the Department of Microbiology, Umea University, Umea, Sweden
Associate Professor at the State University for Medicine and Pharmacy, Chisinau, R. Moldova

In the year 2015 the World Health Organization (WHO) has proclaimed the EndTB strategy with the ambitious goals of 95% reduction in tuberculosis deaths (compared with 2015), 90% reduction in tuberculosis incidence rate (less than 10 tuberculosis cases per 100,000 population) and no affected families facing catastrophic costs due to tuberculosis by the year 2035. However, according to the latest WHO report, estimated numbers of patients with tuberculosis have increased from 8.6 million in 2012 to 10.0 million in 2017 and numbers of patients identified with multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) have increased from 84,000 to 161,000 during the same time. Estimated numbers of patients with MDR-TB are approximately 3 times higher. It appears that the goals proclaimed in the EndTB strategy are far too optimistic. This presentation focuses on gaps in tuberculosis control that need to be successfully addressed before the goal of ending tuberculosis could become realistic.