Tuberculosis Links to Climate Change, According to John Green
In the United States, approximately 10,000 cases of active tuberculosis (TB) are reported annually, a disease that continues to pose a significant health threat. Beyond our borders, the situation is even more dire, with over 10 million people contracting TB each year, a burden disproportionately shouldered by poorer countries.
John Green, a best-selling author known for novels such as The Fault in Our Stars and Looking for Alaska, has taken a unique approach to raising awareness about TB. For the past five years, Green has been focused on eradicating TB, humanity's deadliest infectious disease. His new book, Everything is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection, attempts to explain why TB is curable yet still kills more people than any other infectious disease.
Green argues that TB is caused by unjust social systems, not just the bacterium. He joins researchers who are currently studying the intersections between TB and climate change. Climate change exacerbates the unjust conditions that allow TB to fester, threatening food security and forcing people into overcrowded living conditions with little medical access. This, in turn, may lead to an increase in TB cases.
Global heating is deepening global inequality, carving a wider riverbed for TB to course through. Climate change is causing people to be displaced and forced into crowded living conditions, which can contribute to the spread of TB. Interrupting a patient's TB treatment is catastrophic, as it increases the chance of drug resistance developing and makes the disease harder to cure.
The Trump administration's actions, such as kneecapping the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and stripping international funding for TB relief efforts, are making it harder for public health officials to respond to TB outbreaks. TB medications are being withheld in East Africa due to funding cuts by the Trump administration.
Henry Reider, a tuberculosis survivor and advocate, is a powerful voice for tuberculosis survivors, especially those living at Lakka, the tuberculosis hospital in Sierra Leone. Readers are encouraged to subscribe to Henry Reider's YouTube channel for updates on his work as a tuberculosis survivor and advocate.
John Green, together with the Nerdfighters, supported the Stop TB Partnership and Partners In Health to raise funds and advocate for the fight against tuberculosis. They also campaigned successfully to persuade Johnson & Johnson to allow generic production of the tuberculosis drug bedaquiline and pressured Cepheid to lower costs on tuberculosis diagnostic tests.
TB, like climate change, is a disease that is essentially caused by the rich world and borne by the poor world, due to inadequate global resource distribution. Both TB and climate change are solvable, yet remain unsolved, indicating a lack of respect for people and the planet. It is crucial that we take action to address these crises and ensure a healthier, more equitable future for all.
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