The ATS joined U.S. and global partners in commemorating World Tuberculosis Day on March 24. The ATS’s statement with the Federation of International Respiratory Societies , calls on governments around the world to promote tuberculosis prevention as a critical component of TB elimination. ATS International Health Committee Chair David Lewinsohn, M.D., pointed to the emergence of a new viable TB vaccine candidate as an exciting development while noting that significant effort and investments are needed to bring a TB vaccine into clinical use.

As it does every year on World TB Day, the CDC released annual data on the incidence of TB in the U.S. The new data shows that although the number of TB cases declined in 2018, from 9,021 cases in 2018 to 8,920 new cases in 2019, the pace of the decline has slowed to 1.6 percent annually, indicating that the limits of what can be accomplished towards TB elimination, with the current tools and resources, has been reached. Other key data:

• In 2019, 21 states reported an increase in TB cases.
• More than 80 percent of U.S. TB cases result from progression of untreated LTBI, a condition that affects up to 13 million people in the U.S.

ATS Washington, DC office staff participated in the fifth annual TB Survivors “Virtual Capitol Hill Day” in which over a dozen TB survivors from around the country engaged with their congressional delegations urging support for increased domestic and global TB program and research and development funding.