As author John Green points out in his book EVERYTHING IS TUBERCULOSIS, many people view the disease as something from the past; something that befalls characters in old movies and video games symbolized by the “blood in the rag” following a coughing fit.  The sad truth is that the disease is still very much with us killing over one million people every year – just not on a massive scale here in the Western world.  This is because, as John points out, the disease is where the cure is not and the cure is where the disease is not.

The book primarily follows Henry, a young tuberculosis patient at Lakka Government Hospital in Sierra Leone, throughout his journey fighting the debilitating disease.  John met Henry while traveling with a charitable organization in 2019 and became fascinated with this disease and its grip on much of the underdeveloped world.  The fact that the disease continues to spread like wildfire throughout disadvantaged populations often highlights the massive inequality between the rich and the poor in these nations.  While the disease is largely curable and treatable, the systems required to keep it at bay are often broken or in most cases, non-existent.  For example, while some of these nations have the drugs to fight the infection, they lack basic things like a sustainable food chain allowing the infected to take those drugs on a full stomach, or reliable transportation to and from clinics.

While a short read, it was certainly eye-opening to say the least.  I listened to this one and I thought John was a fantastic narrator, but I’m also quite used to hearing him through his YouTube videos through the years and know him to be a wonderful public speaker.  EVERYTHING IS TUBERCULOSIS is a well-researched, empathetic look at the death and misery this disease continues to inflict on much of the world.