Uncounted & Untreated: Children with TB

Tuberculosis (TB) is estimated to kill more than 64,000 children every year, making it one of the leading causes of death in children worldwide. But that number is acknowledged to be an underestimate: because of ineffective diagnostic tests, many more children go undiagnosed and therefore uncounted and untreated. Even when children are diagnosed, they face a lengthy and often complicated treatment course. This is a situation that is not likely to change anytime soon unless significant changes are made to existing programs and tools”—children are routinely excluded from the research and development activities that might provide access to better paediatric diagnostic tests and treatment in the future.