Description
New and lethal strains of TB are emerging worldwide which cannot be treated by conventional drugs. One estimate puts the number of new MDR TB cases per year as high as 400,000.
After 40 years without any research into new drugs, the race is on to find a cure for MDR TB.
This program travels between Peru and South Korea as it examines both the current impact of TB super strains in the shantytowns of Lima and ongoing drug-development research at Seoul’s Yonsei University.
Based on what he has seen in South America, Dr. Zhekun Ma is pushing for a medicine that requires less treatment time, thus leading to higher compliance rates and giving drug-resistant TB strains less room to develop.
This film is part of the KILL OR CURE series of 57 x 25-minute documentaries produced for the BBC. These films can be bought individually or as a series.