And it would be hard to say that TB control in New York is cheap. It costs many thousands of dollars to treat a single patient with TB in New York, and I doubt that Russia is going to be able to treat patients for the sort of money that is expended in, say, East Africa or China. Of course, we and the Russians have divergent traditions after 70 years. But the Russians shouldn't be singled out for scorn. They have some of the best TB doctors in the world, but you still have to have funds to make diagnoses and to treat patients.
Poor countries can cure their sick, when given the sufficient funds for the proper treatment.
Relapse is rare in our project in Haiti. Some argue that Russia's Soviet-era TB control system is more part of the problem than the solution. 2001 Time Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.