A global plan to stop TB

How many people do you know who have been impacted by tuberculosis? Perhaps you remember grandparents or great-aunts and -uncles who spent time in a TB sanatorium, away from their loved ones while trying to rid the bacteria from their bodies.

My mother remembers. Her mother, a former nurse at Seattle General Hospital, was in a TB sanatorium for four years, where she ultimately lost one lung to this disease. Imagine yourself as a child without a mother from fourth grade until seventh grade, as my mother was. Fortunately, relatives and friends were able to provide social support for my mother during this period. Yet, Mom's most vivid memory of this time is when she stood cold and wet, for 30 minutes, once a month outside her mother's window at the Firland Sanatorium, Seattle's municipal tuberculosis hospital. This was the only way she was permitted to see her mother during those four years.

Magnify my mother's situation by millions, but throw in more horrific outcomes. TB may seem like a disease of the past, but it is actually an epidemic of today. Worldwide, 2 million people died from this preventable and curable disease last year.

TB is devastating communities throughout sub-Saharan Africa, where 1,500 people will perish today because of TB. Tuberculosis is the leading cause of death of those living with AIDS in Africa, even though treatment for TB can cost less than $16. TB takes advantage of the suppressed immune system and begins creating havoc, all too often resulting in death.

Nelson Mandela put it succinctly: "... [W]e cannot win the battle against AIDS if we do not also fight TB. TB is too often a death sentence for people with AIDS."

TB treatment is complex and includes issues of social stigmas, appropriate diagnostic tools, availability of TB drugs, and multidrug-resistant TB strains.

Sounds overwhelming, doesn't it? Yet, our members of Congress, both in the House and Senate, are currently deciding on their support for the "Stop TB Now Act of 2006," a bill with bipartisan sponsorship that demonstrates the ability of our legislators to reach across the aisle and find common ground around issues of global health. This fills me with hope and inspiration.

The legislation will bolster the newly developed plan put forth by the Stop TB Partnership and the World Health Organization, called the "Global Plan to Stop TB 2006 — 2015: Actions for Life." If fully implemented, the global plan could save at least 14 million lives, treat 50 million people, expand access to TB treatment for all patients, and eliminate TB as a global health problem by 2050.

The Stop TB Now Act of 2006 translates the goals and policies of the global plan into U.S. action by:

• Updating U.S. policies and priorities to reflect the goals of halving the TB death and disease burden by 2015, as well as detecting at least 70 percent of TB cases and curing at least 85 percent of all cases detected in the United States;

• Authorizing $225 million in bilateral United States Agency for International Development TB funding, including $15 million for the Global TB Drug Facility, an initiative housed within the World Health Organization that has enabled prices for a full six-month course of TB drugs to be lowered to about $16 in the developing world;

• Authorizing $30 million for international TB control through the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

We mustn't let this important legislation before Congress be overlooked by seemingly more-critical issues of the day. You will be acting locally and impacting the lives of millions globally by contacting your representative and senators to make them aware of the Stop TB Now Act.

TB is definitely not a disease of the past. My family history is rippled with the impact of TB. Globally, millions of families continue to suffer needlessly from this preventable and curable disease. Yet, compassionate actions by individuals and governments can slow and ultimately halt this global epidemic.

Teresa Rugg is the volunteer group leader of Snohomish County RESULTS, a grass-roots advocacy organization working to end hunger and poverty (more information, www.results.org). She spent three years as a Peace Corps volunteer in Cameroon, West Africa, from 1990 to 1993, and has worked in public health for 15 years.