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Washington, DC – Congressman Donald M. Payne, Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health, convened a hearing entitled, "Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis: Assessing the US Response to an Emerging Global Threat" which discussed the hazard posed by the spread of Multidrug-Resistant (MDR-TB) and Extensively Drug-Resistant (XDR-TB) Tuberculosis and examined the United States' policy response.
Representative Payne, yesterday, hosted a press conference for the release of the World Health Organization’s report, "Anti-Tuberculosis Drug Resistance in the World." This groundbreaking survey is the largest collection of data on drug resistant TB ever compiled. It concluded that MDR-TB, particularly in Eastern Europe, is on the rise and that XDR-TB has been found in 45 countries, including the United States and Canada. The report stresses that countries like the United States must strengthen their global response to TB chiefly in the areas of diagnosis, treatment, laboratory capacity and properly trained personnel.
"Without labs, trained personnel and equipment, a TB outbreak in any country could kill hundreds of people," Payne stated during the hearing. "It threatens to completely undermine all the progress made in countries around the world."
The issue of drug resistant tuberculosis was brought to our country's attention last year, when an American citizen left the US and traveled throughout Europe while infected with XDR-TB. "TB knows no boundaries," Payne declared. "A strong domestic response to the disease will have a positive rippling effect for countries around the world."
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