Homeless people die within a year of being diagnosed with tuberculosis. A person can easily be cured if diagnosed with tuberculosis on an early stage.

A decade back 20% of homeless people diagnosed with tuberculosis at a shelter died within a year. Surprisingly 10-years later the figures are the same. As confirmed by Dr. Michael Gardam, Medical Director of the tuberculosis clinic at Toronto Western Hospital

The main causes for the complication of tuberculosis are mental health problems, language barriers, substance dependence and inadequate housing. Another reason for the increasing numbers of tuberculosis cases is that nearly 40% cases are within immigrants.

In 2009 tuberculosis claimed 1.7 million lives worldwide. A lot of work is still pending to prevent tuberculosis from spreading and providing effective cure for the ones diagnosed with this disease. Affordable housing is required for the homeless people to prevent the transmission of the bacteria. Homeless people have a weakened health which can be one of the major causes for the spreading of tuberculosis among them. Tuberculosis can lie dormant in a person with a stronger health for years.

Even after numerous studies and reports submitted on the procedures to fight the airborne disease there has not been much of a difference in the past decade.