Stevens said the lack of global TB data was troubling.
“WHO doesn’t really have a clue as to the true extent of the problem,” he said. “It’s difficult then, to start promoting targets and goals when you don’t know what baseline you are starting from.”
The WHO reported rates of drug-resistant TB were dropping in some parts of Russia with previously large outbreaks.
“It’s good news that it can be controlled even in those difficult regions,” said Ruth McNerney, a TB expert at London’s School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, who was not connected to the report.
McNerney said that though progress was being made, authorities need more money to fight it, and more information about where the disease is striking.
“We’ve got to find out where there are very serious problems, otherwise we won’t know about it until it’s too late,” she said.
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