One-million die yearly from Tuberculosis- experts.

With the 38th Conference on Tuberculosis scheduled to begin on Nov. 8 in Cape Town, experts have expressed concern over the increasing deaths from the ailment. A statement from the Conference organizers said today in Johannesburg that the situation was ``indeed scaring,'' as people continue to die in spite of curative nature of Tuberculosis. ``Except something is done, more than 1.5 million people will continue to die each year from the disease,'' the statement said in Johannesburg today. It also lamented that international efforts were being frustrated by increasing incidence of multi drug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) and extremely drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB). `` 37countries have recorded cases of XDR-TB,a form of the disease that is close to incurable,'' the statement said. The statement blamed the situation on under-funding of TB programmes and an unstable, under-trained workforce, and poor compliance with treatment regimens. ``There is an urgent need for a TB vaccine and new drugs and diagnostic tools. `No new drugs for TB have been found in more than 40 years, and current diagnostic tools are slow and can be difficult to use under field conditions,'' it said. The statement further disclosed that ``for the24. 7million people with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa, TB is the leading cause of death,'' and stressed that `` effective programme coordination, adequate resources and community education were essential in dealing with the co-epidemic. ``TB is curable and HIV is manageable with appropriate treatment, but, without either, patients will die,'' it emphasized. On smoking hazard, the statement said there was the urgent need for tobacco control, saying that ``experts' research confirms that if consumption patterns remain unchanged, half a billion people would die from tobacco-related diseases over the next 50 years''. The statement said that delegates for the countries would come from 100 countries to discuss ``the danger of untreatable TB, the needs of the millions infected with both TB and HIV and the threat posed by Tobacco use and other lung diseases. '''It said that 3,000 TB and HIV experts, health managers, government ministers, researchers, activists and affected persons would also be participants at the conference. The World Conference sessions will cover recent research findings, new policy and programmatic initiatives, and case studies from around the world as well as Childhood pneumonia, asthma and other lung diseases.