Tuberculosis is an infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis typically attacks the lungs, but can also affect other parts of the body. The disease has become rare in high income countries, but is still a major public health problem in low- and middle-income countries.

It is estimated that between the years 2000 and 2010, eight to nine million new cases emerged each year. Approximately 1.5 million people die from the disease each year. In adults, tuberculosis is the second leading cause of death due to an infectious disease (after AIDS), with 95% of deaths occurring in low-income countries. Tuberculosis is a major problem of children in poor countries where it kills over 100,000 children each year.

The treatment of tuberculosis remains a constraint for patients and a heavy burden for the healthcare system. Drug-susceptible tuberculosis requires at least six months of therapy under close supervision. A treatment for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis requires nearly two years of treatment with poorly tolerated and less effective drugs. In most places the diagnosis still relies mainly on direct microscopy that is unable to detect a large proportion of patients. The BCG vaccine, developed almost a century ago, confers only partial protection.