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No. 3, 2006
COMMUNICATIONS, EDUCATION, AND BEHAVIORAL STUDIES BRANCH UPDATES
Stop TB in the African-American Community Summit
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Dr. Benny Primm, Executive Director, Addiction Research and
Treatment Corporation-Urban Resource Institute and other
attendees at the 2006 Stop TB in the African-American
Community Summit |
More than 100 individuals from a myriad of organizations gathered
to participate in the "Stop TB in the African-American Community"
summit, which took place May 16–17, 2006, at CDC's new Tom Harkin
Global Communications Center in Atlanta, Georgia. The participants
met to discuss the nature of this public health problem, exchange
strategies, and identify ways to help address TB in the
African-American community. The summit was sponsored by DTBE and RTI
International. The purposes of the summit were to
- raise awareness about the problem of TB in the
African-American community, and
- create links and build networks that will lead to ongoing
activities and strategies to decrease TB in the African-American
community.
In 2005, CDC provisionally reported TB cases in 3,927
non-Hispanic blacks, 28% of all persons reported with TB nationally.
The proportion of TB in black, non-Hispanic persons is even greater
if only U.S.-born persons reported with TB are examined. In 2005,
45% of TB cases reported in U.S.-born persons were among
non-Hispanic blacks. Also in 2005, the TB case rate for this
population was more than eight times higher than the rate in white,
non-Hispanic persons.
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Dr. Louis Sullivan |
Dr. Garth Graham |
…and senior CDC staff |
The summit included keynote addresses from Dr. Louis Sullivan,
President Emeritus, Morehouse School of Medicine and former
Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS); and Dr. Garth Graham,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Minority Health, Office of Minority
Health, HHS. CDC leaders also addressed the group, including Ms.
Yvonne Lewis of the Office of Minority Health and Health
Disparities; Dr. Kevin Fenton, Director of the National Center for
HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention (proposed); and
Dr. Kenneth Castro, Director of DTBE.
Summit participants learned about state-of-the-art research and
interventions addressing TB in the African-American community, and
learned directly from a panel of patients about their experience
having tuberculosis. The majority of the summit was devoted to
participants working in small groups to strategize actions that
their organizations may be able to implement to help eliminate TB in
the African-American community. Participants included community and
religious leaders, health care providers, public health leaders,
policy and decision makers, state and local health department staff,
communications professionals, academicians, and others.
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Breakout session with conference participants |
The results of the group work yielded a compilation of specific goals
and action items that summit participants committed to trying to
achieve in the next year. A summary of all of the identified action
items is forthcoming. Summit participants will maintain
communication throughout the next year and measure progress towards
implementing the action items.
Although modern medicine can prevent and cure
TB, only the concerted efforts of the community in partnership with
public health and medicine will ensure that TB is eliminated from
the African-American community. These partnerships, fostered by the
summit, are a key component to mobilizing support for TB elimination
as outlined in the 2000 Institute of Medicine's Report, Ending
Neglect: The Elimination of Tuberculosis in the United States.
Submitted by Nickolas DeLuca, PhD, Div of TB
Elimination
Rachel Royce, PhD, MPH (RTI International), and
Charles Wallace, PhD, MPH (Texas Department of State Health Services)
Last Reviewed: 05/18/2008 Content Source: Division of Tuberculosis Elimination
National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention
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