Sino-US cooperative projects set a good example for the fight against more dangerous modern forms of the disease

Thursday is World Tuberculosis Day, which commemorates the date in 1882 when Dr Robert Koch announced his discovery of the bacterium that causes tuberculosis (TB). The World Health Organization, the United States, China and countries around the world commemorate this day by recognizing the lives and stories of people affected by TB: women, men, and children who have received TB treatment; medical and public health professionals, researchers and community workers. They are all essential team members in the global fight against TB.

On this day, we join them in celebrating the lives saved because of innovative interventions to support early detection of infection and initiation and completion of TB treatment. We also remind ourselves that the fight against this ancient plague, and its more dangerous modern forms such as multi-drug resistant TB and extensively drug resistant TB, is far from over and will require discovering new ways for diagnosing, treating and managing the disease.

The US is a global leader in combating TB and focuses its programs on expanding TB services in the countries most affected by this disease. The government provides vital global technical leadership in epidemiology and surveillance, laboratory strengthening, and clinical/operational research to accelerate actions to control TB and addresses the multiple other dimensions and challenges including TB/HIV-AIDS co-infection, multi-drug resistant and extensively drug resistant TB, improving health delivery systems and building stronger community awareness. Addressing the problem of TB is also a key component of President Barack Obama's Global Health Initiative.

This initiative is designed to help partner countries improve health outcomes, with a particular focus on improving the health of women, newborns and children. This initiative saves lives today, and builds health systems - training health workers, repairing health clinics and improving procurement systems - so that improvements in health can continue for generations.

A true transformation can occur only if we simultaneously deepen our understanding of TB as a disease. One excellent example of our joint efforts can be seen in Henan province. Thanks to strong support from the Henan provincial government and the Henan provincial bureau of health, a TB research partnership with the US National Institutes of Health has made inroads against this disease and promises future benefits.

The first research study, at the Henan Provincial Chest Hospital, is off to a very smooth start and I understand the study team plans to start the second study next year, using new drugs for the treatment of drug resistant TB. Construction of the Sino-US (Henan) Tuberculosis Prevention and Treatment Academy by the Henan provincial bureau of health will begin soon, incorporating Chinese design and US suggestions on biosafety.