Gates Pledges $900 Million for TB Research

Bill Gates said Friday his charitable foundation will boost its funding for tuberculosis eradication from its current level of $300 million to $900 million during the next decade. The effort is part of a larger campaign against tuberculosis announced at the World Economic Forum. The disease killed 1.6 million people last year. The announcement came as Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, British treasury chief Gordon Brown and Gates called for help to treat 50 million people and prevent 14 million tuberculosis deaths worldwide over the next decade.