Mr. Speaker, tomorrow is World Tuberculosis Day, a day to focus on the devastation caused by the global pandemic wrought by this bacterial infection.
While tuberculosis is a worldwide problem, the hardest hit populations are in Africa and parts of Asia. TB kills nearly two million people every year.
In the past I have had the opportunity to travel to Ethiopia, where I saw CIDA funded projects to treat and prevent TB. They are focusing on simple things like hand washing, proper use of latrines, providing clean water and basic nutrition, and they are achieving solid results.
Canadians are helping to save lives from TB. I was pleased to see our tax dollars being spent wisely and efficiently there and strongly support the increased funding our Conservative government announced for foreign aid in our recent jobs and growth budget.