Senators push US efforts against global tuberculosis threats

U.S. Sens. Todd Young (R-IN) and Bob Menendez (D-NJ) recently introduced legislation to significantly increase U.S. efforts in prevention, research, and technology development to help end the global tuberculosis epidemic.

The End Tuberculosis Now Act of 2019 would alter the existing Foreign Assistance Act to establish new goals at the national level. Those efforts would be focused solidly on scientific data, established best practices, flagging access indicators, increasing treatment, and improving prevention efforts.

“As the Tuberculosis epidemic continues to grow across the world, the United States needs to do more to galvanize progress in combatting this disease,” Menendez said. “That is why we are introducing this legislation, to ensure dedicated efforts are in place to close critical gaps in the current global response, improve testing methods and make the necessary reforms to support research into the development of new treatments and prevention techniques. There are plenty of opportunities to air our political differences, but this epidemic should not be one of them.”

The senators want to see a bipartisan effort in addressing what is, currently, the world’s most deadly disease. Tuberculosis is estimated to be responsible for more than 1.5 million deaths annually throughout the world. It is highly infectious and actively resists the drugs most commonly used to treat it.

Beyond generalities of action, the legislation would create independent accountability mechanisms for the measurement of tuberculosis commitments made by governments and organizations. It would also promote new tools, therapies, and technologies to treat the disease, as well as increase access to effective drugs and diagnostics for populations most at risk.