Story on Strategy, Without the Strategy

Some of the things I like to point out on this blog are poorly written science stories. I know that the poor little journalists try so hard, but they could try so much harder. The latest story to frustrate me comes from the AP, writing on something that is definitely buzzworthy: drug-resistant tuberculosis. So, the World Health Organization announced they have come up with a "two-year strategy to stop the growing problem of drug-resistant tuberculosis," but the AP medical writer just plum forgot to tell us what it is. First, we have the lead sentence and the concern:

LONDON (AP) -- More than 130,000 lives could be saved if the world implements a two-year strategy to stop the growing problem of drug-resistant tuberculosis, the World Health Organization and partners said Thursday.

Officials are concerned that the current epidemic of curable TB might evolve into a drug-resistant variety immune to existing medicines.

Oh good, we need to have a global plan, because I think this hand sanitizer business is getting out of hand. So, what's the plan?

"It would be very scary if that happened," said Dr. Ruth McNerney, an infectious diseases expert at London's School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. "Tuberculosis would then turn into what it was centuries ago when it was Europe's biggest killer and wiped out generations of people."

Okay. Yes, disease can be scary, especially an airborne infectious disease like TB. Wouldn't want people coughing up blood and wasting away from consumption. Soooo, what's the strategy?

The new plan from WHO and the Stop TB Partnership outlines actions they say are needed to slow the spread of multi-drug resistant TB and extensively drug-resistant TB, or XDR-TB.

Did you miss it? Because this sentence is the last time in the story there is a description of the plan. The rest of the story is just alternating scary ancecdotes with how much money another international body needs. Do you need to see it again? Here it is: The new plan from WHO and the Stop TB Partnership outlines actions.
That's it. Actions. Oh, don't forget, those poor Asian countries need 2.15 billion dollars to tackle issues including disease surveillance, diagnosis and treatment. So there you have it. A 2.15 billion dollar, two year long strategy to combat drug resistant tuberculosis, consists of "actions" to "tackle issues" in "poor countries." Please make checks out to WHO.