UN chief calls for bigger fight to end scourge on World TB Day

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged stepped-up international action on World TB Day to stop the global tuberculosis epidemic that is killing 4,000 people every day.

In a message yesterday to mark the day, Ban said "the man-made multi-drug resistant strain and its even more lethal form, extensively drug-resistant TB, are both spreading."

"That is why the theme of this year's day is 'I Am Stopping TB'," he said. "This is a fight that can be won only with the collective commitment of millions of individuals - donors and researchers, doctors and health care workers, patients and family members."