AbstractTuberculosis is a deadly disease that is affecting our world and the people in it horribly. Due to many factors such as poverty, HIV/AIDS and lack of healthcare, many third world and developing countries have remained highly vulnerable to tuberculosis. It is affecting large parts of these countries and is driving them deeper into poverty and disease. Efforts to help these countries against tuberculosis have been only minimally effective against this widespread and destructive disease. Tuberculosis is an infectious disease that affects one third of the world's population. The most infected areas are developing countries or third world countries such as Africa, India, Pakistan and East Timor. Tuberculosis has affected humans for millennia. Despite all of humanity's medical advances, tuberculosis is a global pandemic. This pandemic is caused by a number of factors such as poverty, HIV/AIDS, lack of healthcare, lack of knowledge and new drug-resistant strains. Globally, tuberculosis is second only to HIV/AIDS as a cause of illness and death among adults, with nearly nine million cases of active disease and two million deaths each year (WHO declares tuberculosis an emergency in Africa, paragraph 4). Microscopic droplets spread tuberculosis when an infected person talks, coughs, laughs, sneezes or sings. Prolonged exposure to an infected person is usually required to become infected. In the United States, tuberculosis is not as widespread as in the rest of the world. In 2003, a total of 14,871 cases of tuberculosis (TB) were reported in the United States (5.1 cases per 100,000 population). Additionally, in 2003, foreign-born individuals accounted for 53.3% (7,845 cases) of the nation's total cases, and 25 states reported that...... half of paper... public efforts -private, and expand community participation in tuberculosis control activities. Although countries have made efforts to fight this disease, they are unable to overcome this pandemic (WHO declares tuberculosis an emergency in Africa, paragraph 7). Works Cited Mwinga, A. Drug-resistant tuberculosis in Africa. 2001. New York Academy of Sciences. 1 August 2007.06>.Projects in Africa. 2005-7. Objective Tuberculosis. August 1, 2007. Trends in tuberculosis. March 19, 2004. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. August 1, 2007. WHO declares tuberculosis an emergency in Africa. 2007. World Health Center. August 1st. 2007. .