Ban said that by joining the global anti-tuberculosis effort, The Call to Stop TB, governments could help save millions of lives. Approximately 2 million people die each year from the curable disease.

Reports on tuberculosis are mixed. The extremely drug-resistant strain XDR-TB is on the rise, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. HIV patients are hit hardest, as their immune systems are already compromised. Of the 40 million people suffering from AIDS, about one-third are estimated to also have TB.

On a positive note, WHO announced on Thursday that the disease is leveling off; there were 136 TB cases per 100,000 people worldwide in 2005, according to the most recent statistics. That compares with 136.5 cases reported the previous year.

And efforts of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria reportedly have saved more than a million lives in 102 countries.

Though heartening, health officials stress that stronger efforts are needed in order to eradicate the disease within the lifetime of the first children born in the new millennium, which is the stated goal of the Stop TB partnership, lead by the World Health Organization.