Operational research to strengthen tuberculosis control in the Americas (Editorial)

Tuberculosis (TB) continues to be an important global health problem, despite significant progress since the declaration of TB as a global public health emergency by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1993. Mortality has declined by 45% since then, with annual decreases of incidence and an estimated 37 million lives saved between 2000 and 2013. Countries have made a considerable effort to achieve the 2015 global targets related to TB within the context of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the Stop TB Strategy. In spite of this, an estimated 9 million people developed TB in 2013, of whom 360 000 cases were co-infected with HIV and 1.5 million died from the disease (1).