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The famous Nobel Prize awarded novel “Der Zauberberg” by Thomas Mann describes the life of posh people treated for lung tuberculosis (TB) over months or even years in a private hospital in the Swiss alpine village of Davos about a hundred years ago. Medical treatment options were limited, but food, wine, and entertainment were excellent. The situation is quite different for most people suffering from TB today.
In 1993 the World Health Organization (WHO) declared tuberculosis to be a global health emergency: one out of three of the world population are infected. According to the “Fifth Annual Report on Global TB Control”, 8.7 million people contracted active tuberculosis (TB) in 1999 and 1.7 million people died from it. Although the major toll has to be paid by the poorest people …