BRICS to jointly fight tuberculosis

Health ministers from the BRICS group signed an agreement Friday to establish a joint strategy to fight tuberculosis.

The ministers from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa have agreed to boost the distribution of anti-tuberculosis medicine among affected people in BRICS countries and other poor nations.

The joint strategy is expected to be implemented as from March 2015.

Tuberculosis is a serious problem in the BRICS countries. The World Health Organization estimates that half of the world's TB cases are in the five countries.

The BRICS health ministers also discussed action to fight Ebola, malnutrition and AIDS. They agreed to establish a working group to deal with the spread of the Ebola virus.