Nolen: The man I met first in Nairobi with extensively drug-resistant TB, or XDR-TB — almost no chance the drugs we have will cure him. No options left. He came that day, hopefully, every day for a week, to collect his delamanid, but it was out of stock.

Green: Oh my god.

Nolen: I just thought, “This is hopeless for you, Barack. Your wife and your five children are affected too.” They were screened and thankfully TB-free, but, like many others, his infection had impoverished him. He had to send back his family to the village as he couldn’t afford to keep them in the city.

XDR-TB is scary for him and everyone close to him. It’s also a concern for the rest of us. He travels daily to this clinic and returns to his apartment, which he shares with 500 others. His untreated TB is dangerous for him and for everyone else.

Green: It’s critical to understand that this is a tragedy on a personal and global level. Not just in impoverished areas but everywhere. Someone’s exposure to an antibiotic failed due to U.S. government stockouts, risking their infection becoming resistant to that drug and others.

We risk losing our tools to fight tuberculosis, effectively returning us to the early 20th century. Just like my great-uncle died of TB back then with no cure available, despite his father being a doctor.

Nolen: Do we still have TB cases in the U.S.?

Green: Unfortunately, yes, we’ll have around 10,000 active TB cases this year in the U.S. The rate is even increasing.

Nolen: Why?

Green: We underfund public health and fail miserably at delivering the cure where it’s needed the most.

Nolen: You mentioned we know how to live in a world without TB, but we choose not to. Why do you think we’re okay living in that world?