March 2015
The ATS coordinated and supported a series of events in Washington to mark World TB Day, March 24, 2015. These included a U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) reception honoring survivors of TB from South Africa, Tajikistan and Indonesia who have become advocates in the fight against the disease.
On March 25, in coordination with the U.S. House of Representatives TB Elimination Caucus, the ATS convened an educational briefing for congressional staff, Drug Resistant Tuberculosis: The Threat to the U.S. The briefing covered prevalence and progress on TB at the global level and in the U.S. The panel of speakers for the event included:
- Eric P. Goosby, M.D., U.N. Secretary-General's Special Envoy on Tuberculosis
- Ariel Pablos-Mendez , M.D., Assist. Administrator for Global Health, USAID
- Lila Cruikshank, a survivor of TB
- Philip LoBue, M.D. ,Director, Div. of TB Elimination, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and
- John Bernardo, M.D. , President, National Tuberculosis Controllers Association (NTCA) and ATS member
Ambassador Goosby praised the chairs of the TB Caucus, Reps, Eliot Engel (D-NY), Gene Green (D-TX) and Don Young (R-AK) for their leadership in the fight against TB. U.S. TB survivor Lila Cruikshank spoke of her fear and loneliness following her diagnosis of TB and of her nearly year-long struggle through TB treatment. She urged Congress to support increased funding for TB control globally through USAID and in the U.S. through CDC and for TB research. She said, "We've made a lot of progress in other disease areas – its time to reinvest in TB – for the millions of patients around the world and for ourselves – because TB can affect anyone."
The ATS also cosponsored a congressional briefing for U.S. Senate staff, Supporting a Community Response to Tuberculosis with partners RESULTS and other groups. The speaker panel included TB survivor from South Africa, Kedibone Mdolo, Shelly Batra, with Operation ASHA in India, David Dowdy, M.D., Professor of Epidemiology at Johns Hopkins University and Charles Wallace with NTCA.
