The study is published on Wednesday by TB Alert, a new charity set up to tackle the disease.

Fergus Walsh: The way to tackle TB in Europe is to eradicate it world-wide

TB is spread by coughs and sneezes, and tends to affect the poor and needy, who suffer from depressed immune systems due to general poor health.

Chris Holme, author of the report, TB: The Killer Returns, writes that the disease is now killing three million people a year worldwide - more than Aids or malaria.

Mr Holme predicts this figure will rise to 4.5 million people a year by 2005 unless action is taken now.

London is already facing a steep rise in TB cases.

Fifty people in the capital develop TB each week, and two of those die from the disease.

Mr Holme believes this is a mirror of what happened in New York 10 years ago.

He said: "TB is on the increase in London because it is out of control across the world.

"New York had to turn to Tanzania to control its epidemic because the richest country in the world had no infrastructure to deal with it."

TB spreads quickly once it has a foothold in a population.

Dr Peter Davies warns global action is needed

Consultant chest physician Dr Peter Davies said: "Tuberculosis is spiralling out of control in developing countries, particularly Asia and Africa, and that is why principally it is increasing in this country because of people visiting from abroad.

"We are not going to see any decline in tuberculosis within our own country until the problem begins to be solved worldwide."

TB Alert is the first organisation in the UK to work solely on the disease since the early 1960s.

Its aims include:

• To increase awareness of the disease in Britain;
• To encourage governments worldwide to ensure proper treatment is available;
• To raise funds to support work in countries with the highest levels of TB.

Minister had tuberculosis

Ian McCartney contracted TB

Trade and Industry Minister Ian McCartney will officially launch TB Alert in the House of Commons.

He said all governments must recognise the global challenge presented by the disease.

He said: "I know what I am talking about, it was only seven years ago that I contracted TB.

"I was lucky, I was able to get the best treatment. But poor treatment, or none at all is a disaster that is creating a timebomb for us all.

"We must get to grips with this disease, and not let it slip out of control."

One reason why TB is spreading is that the cure is only available to 15% of those who contract the disease.

The re-emergence of the disease has also been blamed on over-use of antibiotics, which have given some strains of the bacteria a chance to build up resistance to drug treatment.

Some strains of the disease are now thought to be incurable.

TB is treated with a cocktail of four drugs, but it can take up to nine months before a patients becomes TB-free.

The cure has been widely available in the UK since the 1950s, when the BCG vaccination was also introduced.