Tuberculosis (often referred as TB) is a contagious disease that kills around 2 million people each year .Currently one third of the worlds population is currently infected with TB and someone in the world is newly infected with TB bacilli every second . TB is an opportunistic disease which attacks people who are already vulnerable and have poor immunity. TB is the number-one cause of death of HIV-infected people across the globe.

Until 50 years ago, there were no medicines to cure TB. Now, strains that are resistant to a single drug have been documented in every country surveyed; what is more, strains of TB resistant to all major anti-TB drugs have emerged.

TB is now a leading cause of death in the developing world. More than 90% of TB cases and deaths occur in low and low/middle income countries comprising 76% of the world's population. The recent increase of TB in developing countries has been exacerbated by many causes including pandemic HIV, war and political instability, drug resistance, and increasing poverty