|
Frequently Asked Questions
Privacy Policy
|
|
Home
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 5, 2007
CONTACT: Geoff Embler or Matt Mackowiak
Sen. Hutchison Introduces TB Elimination Act
WASHINGTON -- Texas’ Senior Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison today introduced along with Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA) the Comprehensive TB Elimination Act of 2007 to fight the re-emergence of TB in the United States and help combat the disease globally.
“This legislation will provide the tools needed to aggressively combat and eradicate the scourge of TB,” Sen. Hutchison said. “This bill enlists the help of the U.S.-Mexico Border Health Commission, which I helped create, to find solutions to this problem. The effects of TB are felt acutely in our cities and border communities. Bringing the commission’s expertise to the table will help us eliminate TB in America and around the world.”
The bipartisan legislation would give the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) the authority to respond to international outbreaks of Extensively Drug Resistant Tuberculosis (XDR-TB) and increases funding for the Center’s National Program for the Elimination of Tuberculosis. The bill would expand TB research at the CDC and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) into:
* New diagnostic and treatment tools
* Testing the safety and efficacy of new drugs
* Vaccines
* At-risk populations
* The relationship between TB and HIV/AIDS
* Effective public health interventions
The legislation would expand CDC efforts to prevent, detect, and treat TB, with an emphasis on groups with disproportionately high infection rates including African Americans, Latinos and Asian Americans. The bill increases training and education for health professionals and the public. Sen. Hutchison introduced similar legislation in the Senate in the 108th Congress.
TB funding and research are critical to all TB issues including XDR-TB. Just last week the CDC announced that dozens of airline passengers were potentially exposed to XDR-TB on international flights out of the United States. There are currently 49 reported cases of XDR-TB in the United States, and globally it accounts for approximately two percent of TB cases. In 2006, more than 13,000 cases of active tuberculosis were reported in the United States. Efforts to eradicate TB in the United States will have a major impact on the global pandemic.
--END--
|
|