Anastasia is 17 and she’s in the fight of her life. She has multidrugresistant
tuberculosis.
TB is today’s most deadly infectious disease, and deaths from drugresistant
TB account for about one-third of all antimicrobial resistance
deaths worldwide. And while certain groups are more vulnerable,
Anastasia’s case demonstrates TB can strike anyone, anywhere. TB
incidence in Anastasia’s home country of Belarus – and the rest of
Europe – is relatively low, but Eastern Europe’s burden of multidrugresistant
TB is the highest in the world. In Belarus, nearly 38 percent of
new TB cases are MDR. By comparison, the global average is just over 4
percent. We are not on track to meet the goal of ending TB by 2030. But
if we step up now, we can achieve a decisive change in trajectory. In the
fight against TB, now is the moment.