TB kills 1 person every 10 secs

2005-03-24 10:07

Johannesburg - One person is affected by tuberculosis every second, while another dies from the killer disease every ten seconds.

These are among the alarming statistics discussed at the third African Genome Initiative Conference in Nairobi, Kenya, SABC news reports.

Some of the world's leading scientists have gathered to discuss innovative methods of finding vaccines for killer diseases like TB, HIV/Aids and malaria.

As the world marks World TB Day today, Shreemanta Parida, of the Armauer Hansen Research Institute in Ethiopia, has highlighted the need for African scientists to collaborate across international boundaries to develop a TB vaccine.

Speaking at a panel of peer discussions at the conference, a leading Kenyan Aids Vaccine Initiative researcher, Dr Omu Anzala reacted to the question as to whether there is hope for an Aids vaccine, the East African Standard reported.

"For me sitting in Africa, there is hope (for a vaccine development). That's the gap we left - to which we need to go back to and ask hard questions. That is what we are doing at our department," Anzala told participants.

- News24