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Washington, DC – The U.S. House of Representatives today approved an amendment to the Fiscal Year 2008 State, Foreign Operations Appropriations Bill offered by Congressman Donald M. Payne, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health. The amendment makes available an additional $50 million in the Child Survival and Health Programs Fund specifically for the prevention, control and treatment of Extremely Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis (XDR-TB). With the additional money, the Agency for International Development could provide much needed resources in Africa and elsewhere to strengthen basic TB control, strengthen lab capacity to detect drug resistance, and scale-up capacity to treat drug resistant strains.
XDR-TB recently made headlines after an Atlanta man traveled internationally while infected with the strain. The first reported outbreak, which occurred in Africa, killed 52 of 53 patients—half within 16 days. It has been reported in 37 countries so far, including the US, Canada and Mexico.
“I congratulate the global health community and recognize their work to secure this important victory. I will continue to work together with our partners including the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) to encourage additional research and development for improved detection and treatment, especially in Africa.”
TB is already the leading killer of people with HIV/AIDS; even more frightening is that drug-resistant strains in southern Africa are literally undermining the progress made in reducing AIDS deaths and the billions in U.S. investment in HIV/AIDS control. While the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) will provide important monies for TB-HIV activities in focus countries in FY 2007 and 2008, these funds are not focused on strengthening TB programs, or otherwise directly responding to XDR-TB. In addition, there are other global hotspots of drug resistance, such as India and Russia.
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