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Bill provides more funding for global efforts to fight TB
Washington, D.C. – Today the House passed H.R. 1567, the Stop TB Now Act of 2007, of which Congresswoman Heather Wilson was the lead Republican cosponsor. This bill will work to reduce the 8.8 million cases of tuberculosis that are diagnosed worldwide each year.
Wilson has been the lead Republican cosponsor of the Stop TB Now Act since 2000, working with now-Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and former Rep. Jim Leach (R-IA) before introducing it this year with Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY).
The developing threat of extensively drug resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) has brought new attention to the issue and the need for adhering to drug regimens in the developing world to prevent multi-drug resistant TB (MDR-TB) and extensively-drug resistant TB (XDR-TB).
"The issue of multi-drug resistant TB (MDR-TB), and now extensively-drug resistant TB (XDR-TB), is a growing concern worldwide, but is particularly important for any border state, such as New Mexico," Wilson said. "Tuberculosis is a national and international public health concern. Treating TB in other countries helps to prevent cases in the United States."
TB is now the top infectious killer in the world taking nearly 1.6 million lives annually, and about 50 countries now receive assistance from the U.S., mostly in Africa and South Asia. Cases of TB diagnosed in the U.S. continue to fall, but there are still about 50 cases each year in New Mexico. An active case of TB was reported as recently as February 9 in an employee of a milk processing plant in Portales, and cases were reported last year in Dona Ana, San Juan, Santa Fe, and Bernalillo Counties, and at the United World College near Las Vegas, NM.
Tuberculosis is an air-borne infectious disease caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis that primarily affects the lungs, but can affect other organs including the heart, kidney, and spine.
The legislation would help the U.S. fulfill its commitment to implementing the Global Plan to Stop TB 2006-2015, a comprehensive plan developed by the Stop TB Partnership. The legislation would authorize direct foreign assistance through the United States Agency for International Development of $330 million in fiscal year 2008, and $450 million in fiscal year 2009. The new resources would include resources for treatment, diagnosis and assistance for international TB effort, including $170 million through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to carry out global TB activities, and $15 million for the Global TB Drug Facility.
Congressman Eliot Engel, a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the lead Democrat sponsor of the bill, said, "The rapid growth of TB infection and mounting epidemic of drug resistance is a serious health threat we cannot ignore. The recent case of a man with highly infectious TB traveling to Europe and back shows that we are not insulated by distance from this threat."
The Stop TB Now Act has been endorsed by leading global health groups including the RESULTS Educational Fund, the American Thoracic Society and the Global Health Council.
Heidi Topp Brooks, a RESULTS Albuquerque Global Group Leader, said, "TB is one of the world's most deadly but curable infectious diseases. Here in the U.S. we tend to think it is a disease of the past, but it is becoming ever more dangerous everywhere, including the U.S., through its interaction with HIV/AIDS and increasing drug-resistance."
"The Stop TB Now Act calls for the U.S. to commit the funds and put in place the policies necessary to cut TB mortality and prevalence by 50 percent, which would be a major step in combating the AIDS epidemic as well. RESULTS is tremendously pleased by the passage of the bill in the House. Heather Wilson's long-standing leadership on this issue has been instrumental in achieving today's unanimous vote on this bill, and we are grateful for her support."
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