[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 37 (Monday, March 15, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Page S1529]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

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 SENATE RESOLUTION 454--SUPPORTING THE GOALS OF WORLD TUBERCULOSIS DAY 
                 TO RAISE AWARENESS ABOUT TUBERCULOSIS

  Mr. BROWN of Ohio submitted the following resolution; which was 
referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations:

                              S. Res. 454

       Whereas tuberculosis (TB) is the second leading global 
     infectious disease killer behind HIV/AIDS, claiming 1,800,000 
     lives each year;
       Whereas the global TB pandemic and spread of drug resistant 
     TB present a persistent public health threat to the United 
     States;
       Whereas according to 2009 data from the World Health 
     Organization, 5 percent of all new TB cases are drug 
     resistant;
       Whereas TB is the leading killer of people with HIV/AIDS;
       Whereas TB is the third leading killer of adult women, and 
     the stigma associated with TB disproportionately affects 
     women, causing them to delay seeking care and interfering 
     with treatment adherence;
       Whereas the Institute of Medicine found that the resurgence 
     of TB between 1980 and 1992 was caused by cuts in TB control 
     funding and the spread of HIV/AIDS;
       Whereas, although the numbers of TB cases in the United 
     States continue to decline, progress towards TB elimination 
     has slowed, and it is a disease that does not recognize 
     borders;
       Whereas an extensively drug resistant strain of TB, known 
     as XDR-TB, is very difficult and expensive to treat and has 
     high and rapid fatality rates, especially among HIV/AIDS 
     patients;
       Whereas the United States has had more than 83 cases of 
     XDR-TB over the last decade;
       Whereas the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 
     estimated in 2009 that it costs $483,000 to treat a single 
     case of XDR-TB;
       Whereas African-Americans are 8 times more likely to have 
     TB than Caucasians, and significant disparities exist among 
     other United State minorities, including Native Americans, 
     Asian-Americans, and Hispanic-Americans;
       Whereas the United States public health system has the 
     expertise to eliminate TB, but many State TB programs have 
     been left seriously under-resourced due to budget cuts at a 
     time when TB cases are growing more complex to diagnose and 
     treat;
       Whereas, although drugs, diagnostics, and vaccines for TB 
     exist, these technologies are antiquated and are increasingly 
     inadequate for controlling the global epidemic;
       Whereas the most commonly used TB diagnostic in the world, 
     sputum microscopy, is more than 100 years old and lacks 
     sensitivity to detect TB in most HIV/AIDS patients and in 
     children;
       Whereas current tests to detect drug resistance take at 
     least 1 month to complete and faster drug susceptibility 
     tests must be developed to stop the spread of drug resistant 
     TB;
       Whereas the TB vaccine, BCG, provides some protection to 
     children, but has little or no efficacy in preventing 
     pulmonary TB in adults;
       Whereas there is also a critical need for new TB drugs that 
     can safely be taken concurrently with antiretroviral therapy 
     for HIV;
       Whereas the Global Health Initiative commits to reducing TB 
     prevalence by 50 percent;
       Whereas enactment of the Lantos-Hyde Global Leadership 
     Against HIV/AIDS, TB, and Malaria Act and the Comprehensive 
     TB Elimination Act provide an historic United States 
     commitment to the global eradication of TB, including to the 
     successful treatment of 4,500,000 new TB patients and 90,000 
     new multi-drug resistant (MDR) TB cases by 2013, while 
     providing additional treatment through coordinated 
     multilateral efforts;
       Whereas the United States Agency for International 
     Development provides financial and technical assistance to 
     nearly 40 highly burdened TB countries and supports the 
     development of new diagnostic and treatment tools, and is 
     authorized to support research to develop new vaccines to 
     combat TB;
       Whereas the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 
     working in partnership with United States, States, and 
     territories, directs the national TB elimination program and 
     essential national TB surveillance, technical assistance, 
     prevention activities, and supports the development of new 
     diagnostic, treatment, and prevention tools to combat TB;
       Whereas the National Institutes of Health, through its many 
     institutes and centers, plays the leading role in basic and 
     clinical research into the identification, treatment, and 
     prevention of TB;
       Whereas the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and 
     Malaria provides 63 percent of all international financing 
     for TB programs worldwide and finances proposals worth 
     $3,200,000,000 in 112 countries, and TB treatment for 
     6,000,000 people, 1,800,000 HIV/TB services, and in many 
     countries in which the Global Fund supports programs, TB 
     prevalence is declining, as are TB mortality rates; and
       Whereas, March 24, 2010 is World Tuberculosis Day, a day 
     that commemorates the date in 1882 when Dr. Robert Koch 
     announced his discovery of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the 
     bacteria that causes tuberculosis: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) supports the goals of World Tuberculosis Day to raise 
     awareness about tuberculosis;
       (2) commends the progress made by anti-tuberculosis 
     programs, including the United States Agency for 
     International Development, the Centers for Disease Control 
     and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health, and the 
     Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria; and
       (3) reaffirms its commitment to global tuberculosis control 
     made through the Lantos-Hyde United States Leadership Against 
     HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Act of 2008 (Public Law 
     108-25; 117 Stat. 711).

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