§ 39. Mr. CorbettTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what response he plans to make to the declaration by the World Health Organisation of tuberculosis as a global health emergency.
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydWe share the concern expressed by the World Health Organisation about the increasing incidence and severity of TB. We are considering with the WHO and other Governments the resources that should be made available and how they might be used most effectively to help reduce the spread of this disease.
§ Mr. CorbettMay I encourage the Minister to make best speed with those considerations, given that about one third of the world's population is now infected with TB and that TB currently kills more people than heart disease and AIDS put together.
Is he aware that the World bank has estimated that the cure available for TB is one of the most cost-effective available? Does he accept that, unless the disease is also tackled in Britain and other industrialised countries—there is evidence of its coming back—there cannot be a cure in those countries where it is rampant: Latin America, Asia and Africa?
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydI fully accept the hon. Gentleman's alarm at the regrowth of the disease. I can accept the figure that he used—3 million deaths occur as a result of that dreadful disease each year. The United Kingdom is one of the largest sources of World Health Organisation extrabudgetary support. We contributed £11 million in 1992. We are anxious to see a better lead from the WHO in that regard, as the problem is of such great importance to the health of the world.