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Background: The Global Plan to Stop TB estimates funding required in low- and middle-income countries to achieve TB control targets set by the Stop TB Partnership within the context of the Millennium Development Goals. We estimate the contribution and impact of Global Fund investments under various scenarios of allocations across interventions and regions. Methodology/Principal Findings: Using Global Plan assumptions on expected cases and mortality, we estimate treatment costs and mortality impact for diagnosis and treatment for drug-sensitive and multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB), including antiretroviral treatment (ART) during DOTS for HIV-co-infected patients, for four country groups, overall and for the Global Fund investments. In 2015, China and India account for 24% of funding need, Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA) for 33%, sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) for 20%, and other low- and middle-income countries for 24%. Scale-up of MDR-TB treatment, especially in EECA, drives an increasing global TB funding need - an essential investment to contain the mortality burden associated with MDR-TB and future disease costs. Funding needs rise fastest in SSA, reflecting increasing coverage need of improved TB/HIV management, which saves most lives per dollar spent in the short term. The Global Fund is expected to finance 8-12% of Global Plan implementation costs annually. Lives saved through Global Fund TB support within the available funding envelope could increase 37% if allocations shifted from current regional demand patterns to a prioritized scale-up of improved TB/HIV treatment and secondly DOTS, both mainly in Africa - with EECA region, which has disproportionately high per-patient costs, funded from alternative resources. Conclusions/Significance: These findings, alongside country funding gaps, domestic funding and implementation capacity and equity considerations, should inform strategies and policies for international donors, national governments and disease control programs to implement a more optimal investment approach focusing on highest-impact populations and interventions.

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the European Respiratory Society (ERS) jointly developed European Union Standards for Tuberculosis Care (ESTC) aimed at providing European Union (EU)-tailored standards for the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of tuberculosis (TB).

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the European Respiratory Society (ERS) jointly developed European Union Standards for Tuberculosis Care (ESTC) aimed at providing European Union (EU)-tailored standards for the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of tuberculosis (TB). The International Standards for TB Care (ISTC) were developed in the global context and are not always adapted to the EU setting and practices. The majority of EU countries have the resources and capacity to implement higher standards to further secure quality TB diagnosis, treatment and prevention. On this basis, the ESTC were developed as standards specifically tailored to the EU setting. A panel of 30 international experts, led by a writing group and the ERS and ECDC, identified and developed the 21 ESTC in the areas of diagnosis, treatment, HIV and comorbid conditions, and public health and prevention. The ISTCs formed the basis for the 21 standards, upon which additional EU adaptations and supplements were developed. These patient-centred standards are targeted to clinicians and public health workers, providing an easy-to-use resource, guiding through all required activities to ensure optimal diagnosis, treatment and prevention of TB. These will support EU health programmes to identify and develop optimal procedures for TB care, control and elimination.