Comprehensive TB Control Legislation Introduced in the House 
This week, Reps. Ami Bera, MD (D-CA) and Don Young (R-AK), co-chairs of the House TB Elimination Caucus, introduced the Comprehensive TB Elimination Act of 2021, bipartisan legislation that would reauthorize the National Strategy for Combating and Eliminating Tuberculosis for five years, authorize the use of grants to state health departments to focus on TB in high-risk populations, and encourage interagency coordination in identifying novel tools and therapeutics for TB control. 

Parallel legislation has been introduced in the Senate by Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), and Ed Markey (D-MA).

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there were 8,916 new cases of TB reported in the United States in 2019, including 90 cases of primary multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB), which is difficult and costly to treat. In addition to these active cases, there are up to 13 million individuals in the U.S. with latent tuberculosis infection.

“The American Thoracic Society commends Representative Ami Bera and Representative Don Young for their introduction of the Comprehensive TB Elimination Act (CTEA),” said American Thoracic Society President Lynn Schnapp, MD, ATSF. “The ATS was founded as the American Sanitorium Association in 1905 to prevent and control tuberculosis, which continues to be a significant public health issue in the U.S. The enactment and funding of the CTEA is critical to the goal of eliminating TB, which disproportionately affects racial and ethnic minorities as well as non-U.S. born residents.”

The ATS will encourage Congress and the Administration to enact this important legislation.