Roadmap towards ending TB in children and adolescents
A new action plan outlining measures to prevent and treat tuberculosis (TB) in children and adolescents was launched by global tuberculosis (TB) leadership in advance of the United Nations General Assembly High-Level meeting on TB. Building on the first-ever Roadmap for Childhood TB: Toward Zero Deaths first issued in 2013, the new Roadmap towards ending TB in children and adolescents now includes recommendations on how to target young people aged between 10 and 19 years, who represent a significant at-risk group for TB. An estimated one million children fell ill with TB (10% of all TB), and 233 000 children (under 15 years) died of TB in 2017. However, little data is available for adolescents who, despite making up 1 in 6 of the world’s population, have been largely overlooked as global momentum to address TB has grown. 