Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04), head of the House Foreign Affairs Global Health Subcommittee, warned that not enough attention is being paid to eradicating tuberculosis (TB)—a contagious airborne disease which killed 1.5 million people last year. Smith made the comments in response to the newly released World Health Organization’s (WHO) 2015 Global Tuberculosis Report. 

“TB has surpassed HIV/AIDS as the leading infectious disease cause of premature death.  What is most troubling is the emergence of multi-drug resistant and extensively drug-resistant strains, and we need to pay particular attention to the prevalence of TB in Eastern Europe, parts of sub-Saharan Africa and North Korea,” said Smith.  “The number of TB deaths annually dwarfs those attributable to Ebola, which by comparison has claimed the lives of less than 12,000 people since the March 2014 Ebola outbreak.”

The new report was released October 28. The WHO estimates that in 2014, some 480,000 people developed multidrug resistant TB, which is far harder to treat.  Some 10 percent of multidrug-resistant cases are extremely drug resistant.

Noting the lives that are lost to TB, Smith also said that, “We need to stop being penny wise and pound foolish when it comes to combatting Tuberculosis.  TB testing and treatment pays dividends, but a funding gap exists.  When we fail to invest in attacking TB, we pay a greater price down the road not only in terms of lives destroyed but also in terms of dollars.  We have a window of opportunity now in which to tackle the disease, but if multidrug resistance is allowed to develop, the climb becomes that much steeper.”

The WHO estimates that $8 billion worldwide is needed to respond fully to the TB epidemic in low and middle-income countries, but the amount committed falls short by some $1.4 billion. 

Smith also criticized the Obama Administration “for consistently lowballing TB in the global health budget, relying on Congress to restore funding to previous year levels.”

In addition to welcoming the WHO report, Smith did praise the naming of Dr. Eric Goosby as the UN Special Envoy on Tuberculosis.  “We worked with Dr. Goosby when he was the US Global AIDS Coordinator, and he is someone who has dedicated his life to public health.  As Special Envoy on TB, Dr. Goosby will be able to help galvanize attention on the need to combat TB.  A sustained focus is necessary, and he is the right man for the job.”

Smith looks forward to seeing new diagnostic tools come on line, as well as the development of improved anti-TB drugs. 

“We can eliminate TB, just as we have successfully fought polio,” Smith said. “It takes political will, however, and an investment of resources that will pay dividends in the long run both in terms of lives saved and productivity gained.”

Link to the new WHO Report:  http://www.who.int/tb/publications/global_report/en/

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