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Heads of State gathered at the UN last week for their first-ever high-level meeting on Tuberculosis. High-level attention is long overdue, and there is a compelling moral and economic case for this to be matched by resources, which are sorely lacking.
 Over the past two centuries, TB has caused far more deaths than smallpox, malaria, the plague, influenza, cholera and AIDS combined. This year, the toll from TB surpasses that of HIV/AIDS, making it the planet’s most deadly infectious disease. At a global level, every dollar spent investing in TB control would generate benefits to society worth around $43.
Together with South Africa's Minister of Health, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, Bjorn Lomborg argues in Canada's newspaper of record, The Globe and Mail, that an additional US$5.4-billion is needed to finally end TB’s heavy burden.
  
The article was shared with newspapers around the globe, including Berlingske (Denmark), China Daily, The Sun (Malaysia), The Daily Star (Bangladesh), The Jakarta Post (Indonesia), Bergens Tidende (Norway), Milenio (Mexico), El Pais (Uruguay), Perfil (Argentina), El Comercio (Peru), Los Tiempos (Bolivia) and La Prensa (Nicaragua).
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The global cost of domestic violence
Domestic violence costs the world 25 times more than war and terrorism, according to a study for Copenhagen Consensus. New research for India, where a meaningful reduction in domestic violence could transform millions of lives for generations to come, identified two proven approaches that involve not just a safety-net response to domestic violence, but also efforts to change public attitudes. Each dollar spent would produce more than $27 worth of social benefits, owing to the reduction in suffering.
  
Read Bjorn Lomborg's new column for Project Syndicate in six languages. It was published by newspapers around the world including Shanghai Daily (China), The Daily Star (Lebanon), My Republica (Nepal), The New Times (Rwanda), Times of Oman, Al Bawaba (Jordan), Finmag (Czech Republic) and New Europe (Belgium).
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When Hurricane Florence hit the United States, many pundits emphasized the need to connect extreme weather to climate change to encourage carbon cuts. Lomborg argues in New York Post that claims of ever worsening hurricanes due to global warming are wrong and politically misleading, as carbon cuts are not the right answer to extreme weather.
He also presents data showing that the trend of all land-falling hurricanes in the US has been declining since 1900, as has that of the worst hurricanes. The key reason hurricane costs are escalating is that more people with more wealth live in harm’s way.
Lomborg also discussed the subject on the FOX Business show Varney & Co.
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On the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Bjorn Lomborg and Shireen Vakil, Head of Policy and Advocacy at TATA Trusts, met with the global development community's media platform Devex to discuss how India Consensus helps identify and advocate for cost-efficient interventions in Indian states.
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Closing the nutrition gap promises huge gains
 Proper early nutrition can spectacularly change a child's entire life trajectory. We know from long-term studies that it promotes brain development, making the child do better in school, and much better in life. This affects everything from marriage happiness to job quality, and means up to 60% more earnings
Lomborg and nutrition expert Rajan Sankar introduce new research for the Indian states of Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh, in the world's largest circulating newspaper in English language, The Times of India. This shows that nutrition interventions such as micronutrient supplementation for pregnant women and interpersonal counseling for behavior change can achieve between 40 and 60 rupees of social good for every rupee invested.
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 In some Indian states, policy-makers argue that loan waivers are the solution to farmer distress. But new research for Rajasthan Priorities shows waivers are extremely expensive and have a limited impact.
Instead, one better response to the challenge is reducing waste of perishable fruits, vegetables and milk that command a higher market price than staple crops.
Nilanjan Banik and Manorama Bakshi also argue in Mint that e-markets could result in better prices, yielding benefits worth an astonishing 65-times the costs.
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