December 2016

Last week the ATS and partners the National Tuberculosis Controllers Association and Aeras convened an educational briefing for Senate congressional staff. The event covered global and domestic TB prevalence and challenges, including drug resistant TB and the millions of people who have undiagnosed TB infection, and the need for new TB diagnostic, treatment and prevention tools. Speakers included ATS member Robert Belknap, MD, Denver Metro TB Program; Past President, National Tuberculosis Controllers Association, who chaired the session; Kelly Holland, MD, a TB survivor and primary care physician from Lynn, MA; Susan A. Maloney, MD, Chief of the Global TB Branch at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Philip A. LoBue, MD, Director of the CDC Division of TB Elimination; and Ann Ginsberg, MD, Chief Medical Officer of Aeras TB Vaccine Foundation.

Dr. Holland provided an especially moving perspective of the harsh side effects of TB drugs and stigma that he endured as a patient. All of the speakers urged Congress to support increased funding to combat TB globally and in the U.S. through the CDC and U.S. Agency for International Development; and National Institutes of Health.