Nachtwey’s Wish: Awareness of XDR-TB

Well-known and influential photojournalist James Nachtwey won the TED Prize last year, and as part of his award, he made a wish for help – help in bringing a story to light that he felt was important and under-reported. The subject of this story is a new, dangerous type of tuberculosis called Extreme Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis, or XDR-TB. Tuberculosis is both preventable and curable, but inadequate treatment has been driving the emergence of XDR-TB, especially in developing nations. Tuberculosis is not a disease of the past – in 2007 alone, 1.7 million people died from TB – it is the leading killer of people infected with HIV. Nachtwey’s wish was that he could break this story, and demonstrate proof of the power of news photography in the digital age.

See the photos. Watch Nachtwey’s TED Prize wish. And for much more information about XDR-TB, please visit xdrtb.org.