Health Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi has challenged countries “to treat tuberculosis (TB) with the same urgency it demonstrated in responding to major new health threats like Ebola and the Zika virus”.

He threw down this gauntlet in his acceptance speech for a “USAID-TB international award in recognition of his leadership in the global fight against TB as well as championing bold South African and regional initiatives in the screening‚ treatment and prevention” of the disease.

Motsoaledi said‚ despite it killing it more than 1.5-million people globally — TB “does not evoke the emotions‚ passion‚ urgency and requisite activism that the world has seen in all other epidemics”.

“TB as a disease in the last 200 years killed more people than the major epidemics‚ Ebola‚ malaria‚ HIV itself‚ small pox‚ bubonic plaque‚ influenza and cholera all added together.” Motsoaledi said.

First prize‚ he said‚ would be “to find an effective vaccine against TB to ensure that no one contracts TB in the first place”.

“In the meantime we must be able to diagnose TB with a rapid diagnostic test much like we have for HIV‚” he added.

“We must have an effective treatment that cures TB and MDR-TB in weeks‚ rather than months‚ without the debilitating side-effects of current treatments.”