SOUTH AFRICA

The number of drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) cases is exploding in South Africa, according to Action TB, a research group funded by the British pharmaceuticals company Glaxo Wellcome. The Kwazulu-Natal region alone has witnessed a 300 per cent rise in the number of multidrug-resistant TB cases in just one year. "The extent of this increase is new and very worrying," says Ken Duncan, head of Action Tit. According to the researchers, one in 10 Cases of TB is resistant to treatment in some parts of South Africa.