SEATTLE, Washington — Tuberculosis (TB) was listed as one of the top 10 deadly diseases in 2017 regardless of the fact that it is preventable, treatable and curable. It is a problem primarily in countries with poorly-funded healthcare systems. In 1993, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared TB a public health emergency. It urged countries to scale up TB prevention and treatment measures. Recently, the End Tuberculosis Now Act of 2019 was introduced to renew the fight against TB.
TB is an airborne infectious disease that typically affects the lungs. If left undiagnosed and untreated, it can be fatal. It is especially dangerous to those who have weak immune systems like children under the age of five and those living with HIV/AIDS. The TB bacteria can rapidly multiply and spread to other parts of the body through blood or the lymphatic system. Symptoms typically include a bad cough that sometimes produces blood, fever, chills, weight and appetite loss and organ failure when not treated.
People Most Affected by TB
While TB has been mostly eradicated in developed countries like the United States and many European countries, it still remains a large problem in developing countries. According to the WHO, two-thirds of new TB cases occurred in India, China, Indonesia, Nigeria, the Philippines, Pakistan, Bangladesh and South Africa in 2017. That same year, 1.6 million died from it. In 2018, 10 million people were diagnosed with active TB, one million of whom were children.
In addition, multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) and extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB) are becoming increasingly common in countries where TB is already an issue. MDR-TB is a strain of the TB bacteria that does not respond to conventional methods of treatment and must be handled through more expensive second-line treatments. Second-line treatments usually consist of limited, extensive and invasive chemotherapy. XDR-TB is a special strain of MDR-TB and does not respond to any of the second-line treatments, leaving many patients with no options.
The End Tuberculosis Now Act
Despite the daunting figures, progress has been made towards eradicating TB. So much so that many people have written off the disease as eliminated. Without a renewed focus on ending TB, the current global epidemic could erase decades of progress made towards ending it. The End Tuberculosis Now Act aims to bring TB back into the spotlight.
In early August 2019, U.S. Senators Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and Todd Young (R-IN) introduced the bipartisan legislation as an amendment to the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961. “The United States needs to do more to galvanize progress in combating this disease,” Senator Menendez said in a press release on August 2nd. “As the world’s most lethal disease, we need to make sure we are fully engaged and committed to doing our part in the fight to end TB once and for all.”
The End Tuberculosis Now Act addresses newly-prevalent drug-resistant strains of TB and expands the best practices and indicators required to accelerate accessibility and efficacy of treatment to vulnerable populations. It ensures that limited U.S. resources are leveraged across multilateral partnerships while simultaneously authorizing increased assistance to the WHO and the Stop TB Partnership. The Act also increases the accountability and transparency of TB-high countries and reduces duplication efforts by encouraging equitable shares in domestic and international expenditure.
Why Support The End Tuberculosis Now Act?
TB has already been largely eradicated in developed countries through treatment, education and prevention. The End Tuberculosis Now Act aims to do the same thing in developing countries where TB is currently a major issue. This act is a significant step in the right direction. In accordance with the WHO End TB Strategy, it aims to coordinate with other dedicated countries to help reduce TB deaths by 95 percent and new cases by 90 percent by 2035.
Developed nations are not immune to the effects of the TB epidemic either. Developed countries are able to treat and cure traditional forms of TB, but the new MDR-TB and XDR-TB are much more difficult or sometimes impossible to cure. If these strains are allowed to spread, TB may well become a problem in developed countries once more. Decades of progress towards ending this disease, much of which has been achieved with the help of U.S. foreign aid, would be erased.
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