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WHO explores new test, treatment plan for TB superbug strains

The World Health Organization is pushing for a faster and cheaper treatment plan for patients with superbug forms of tuberculosis.

If effective, it should help cure thousands of the killer disease.

The WHO’s leading TB expert argues the move is a critical step forward tackling the “public health crisis”.

The new plan could now be completed in 9-12 months rather than the two years previously recommended, the WHO said.

“This is a critical step for the fight against multi drug resistant tuberculosis that affects today half a million people. We believe that hundreds of thousands of patients will now benefit from these new recommendations,” the body said.

The WHO estimates that 5 percent of TB cases are multi drug-resistant translating into 480,000 cases, and 190,000 deaths each year.

Superbug strains can spread from person to person through the air with a treatment regimen costing under a 1000 dollars.