There’s a raging pandemic going on across the world, and
it’s not COVID-19. Rather, tuberculosis is killing 1.5 million people every
year. HIV and malaria are spreading unchecked, too.
What’s worse is that the coronavirus pandemic is consuming
global resources at a pace that leaves other diseases on the wayside. For
example, The New York Times reports that, aside from impeded access to needed
drugs, people with malaria, HIV and TB are also adversely affected by closed clinics
and overstressed health care providers.
“A six-month disruption of antiretroviral therapy may lead
to more than 500,000 additional deaths from illnesses related to HIV, according
to the WHO,” the NYT said. “Another model by the W.H.O. predicted that in the
worst-case scenario, deaths from malaria could double to 770,000 per year.”
SOURCES:
The
New York Times August 3, 2020
Stop
TB Partnership May 1, 2020