[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 47 (Wednesday, March 24, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2015-S2016]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         WORLD TUBERCULOSIS DAY

  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. President, I wish today to recognize World 
Tuberculosis Day.
  It is a day that allows us to take stock of how far we have come, and 
how far we have to go, in the fight against this deadly disease. 
Claiming about 1.8 million lives each year, TB is a vicious killer that 
must be stopped in order to protect the global public health.
  Today we recognize not only that we must do more, but that, with the 
technology, medical expertise, and a worldwide commitment, we can do 
more.
  We have waged an aggressive campaign to eliminate TB in the U.S. 
However, progress toward TB elimination has slackened.
  Anywhere from 9 to 14 million Americans are infected with latent TB. 
Without treatment, about 5 to 10 percent of them will develop active 
TB. As the global pandemic of drug resistant TB spreads, the disease 
poses an imminent public health threat to the United States.
  According to the World Health Organization, 5 percent of all new TB 
cases are drug resistant, with estimates of up to 28 percent in some 
parts of Russia. Of these cases, it is estimated that only 7 percent 
are being treated.
  Over the past decade, the U.S. has had more than 83 cases of an 
extremely drug resistant strain of TB, known as XDR-TB, which is very 
difficult and expensive to treat. Because XDR-TB recognizes no borders, 
these cases will continue to rise unless we adopt control measures on a 
global scale.
  As it stands, drug resistant and extremely drug resistant forms of TB 
are not easily transmittable; however, should an easily transmittable 
strain arise, we face the real possibility of a deadly pandemic in our 
country and across the globe.
  TB control is not just an imperative for the developing world; it is 
an imperative for every nation on this planet.
  Our current drugs, diagnostics, and vaccines are out of date and 
increasingly inadequate to control the spread of TB. The TB vaccine, 
for instance, provides some protection to children, but provides little 
to no help to prevent TB in adults.
  In addition, 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.
  Finally, the course of treatment available today is simply too long, 
resulting in skipped doses and the development of resistant strains.
  New TB drug regimens are long overdue, and Congress must act to help 
accelerate the development, approval, and delivery of new TB medicines 
around the globe. We must bring our methods of prevention and treatment 
into the 21st century so we can fight the new age of the TB epidemic.
  Congress has made significant strides toward this goal. The enactment 
of the Lantos-Hyde Act and the Comprehensive TB Elimination Act 
reaffirmed our commitment to research, treatment, and prevention.
  These laws put the U.S. on the path to successfully treating 4.5 
million TB patients and 90,000 new multidrug resistant TB cases by 
2013. However, Congress and this administration must not underfund the 
commitment we made with this legislation.
  World Tuberculosis Day provides an opportunity to reflect on the 
progress made to eradicate TB, acknowledge the

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millions of lives this disease takes as it orphans children and 
destabilizes communities throughout the world, and recommit to fighting 
TB with the sense of urgency and level of resources this global public 
health battle requires.

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