Soong explains that when the Soviet Union broke up, many of the newly independent countries experienced a massive outbreak of multiple-resistant tuberculosis due to incomplete treatment. Medicines that could treat the disease were expensive and had major side effects, and the course of treatment was between one and two years. The social cost was enormous, leading to many tragedies.
宋睿祥解釋，舊蘇聯解體後，許多附屬國就是因為結核病治療不完全，最後爆發大規模、多重抗藥性的結核感染，此時治療藥物不僅昂貴、副作用大，且療程要拖長到一至兩年，社會付出的代價更大，造成的悲劇更多。