People have no time to pay attention to their health

Dr Nana Gvetadze

Dr Nana Gvetadze of Moscow's Central Tuberculosis Institute said that in Soviet times, the healthcare system was better funded and better able to cope.

Strict controls on movement meant outbreaks could be contained more easily.

These days, she said, poverty is also to blame for the rapid rise in cases.

"People have no time to pay attention to their health.

"Everybody tries to find a job, to work a lot, and I think that is the main problem."

Declining population

Russia, already worried about its rapidly declining population, fears that TB will become a major killer - if it hasn't already - especially of the nation's young.

President Putin is worried about Russia's declining population

The disease is most common among the poor, especially the homeless, the malnourished and prisoners.

Overcrowding and poor nutrition in Russian jails make inmates the most vulnerable group of all.

It is believed that one in 10 prisoners has active TB - 100,000 people in all.

And when they leave jail, few seek treatment, continuing to spread the disease.

Dr Michael Pelly is a medical adviser to the International Federation of the Red Cross.

Awareness problem

It is trying to help raise general awareness of the problem in Russia, and raise money to solve it.

"One of the most important starting points is to have an adequately educated population, so they know what the disease is, what it means, and what they have to do when they get it," he said.

"If people know that TB can be cured and treatment is free and that they will get support through the course of treatment - those are very important starting points."

Raising awareness is vital.

The main difficulty in Russia remains finding the funding to deal with TB, in a country with so many pressing problems.