Normal ways to die

Familiar endemic diseases such as tuberculosis (TB) are rarely seen as health emergencies, even though they kill millions of people each year. This chapter describes a variety of ways to remedy the neglect, illustrated by TB, including: highlight new dangers from old hazards, such as the emergence of multi-drug resistant strains; eliminate the prevention–cure dichotomy by exploiting the benefits of ‘treatment as prevention’, when drugs that cure illness also prevent the transmission of infection to others; neutralize major risks for TB, such as co-infection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), in settings where these risks cause a high proportion of cases and deaths; and mitigate the large number of weaker TB risks that have benefits for other health conditions (diabetes, undernutrition) and for society more widely (homelessness, crowding). This wider context aligns the specific aims of neglected disease control with the larger goals of Universal Health Coverage and the Agenda for Sustainable Development.