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This is an archived USAID document retained on this web site as a matter of public record.
USAID Expands Global TB Efforts to Stem Spread of Epidemic
WASHINGTON, DC 20523
PRESS OFFICE
http://www.usaid.gov/
Press: (202) 712-4320
Public Information: (202) 712-4810
2004-015
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 24, 2004
Contact: USAID Press Office
NEW DELHI, INDIA -- The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has increased its funding from $10 million from five years ago to $75 million in 2003 as part of a massive international effort to fight tuberculosis (TB)-a curable illness that was once under control in many parts of the world. Recently, TB has surged with eight million new TB cases reported and two million people dying of the disease each year. Nearly one third of the world's population is infected with latent TB that could develop into active TB disease during their lifetime. Asia and Africa, alone, contain 80 percent of all of these TB cases.
The most important element of USAID's strategy to fight TB is the expansion and strengthening of the DOTS (Directly Observed Treatment, Short-Course) program. DOTS, which is recommended by the World Health Organization, identifies tuberculosis patients, provides them with drugs, and ensures uninterrupted supply of drugs until the patient is cured. The key to its success is that health care workers directly observe their patients taking the medicine daily until the full treatment is completed.
"Despite the effectiveness of DOTS, TB has spread, due to the fragility of public health systems, lack of complete access to DOTS, and the exploding HIV/AIDS epidemic," said Dr. E. Anne Peterson, Assistant Administrator for USAID's Bureau for Global Health. "It also has developed new virulent strains resistant to previously effective drugs in some countries. Today, USAID reaffirms its commitment to addressing the global burden of TB in close collaboration with developing country, regional, and global partners."
USAID, as a member of the STOP TB Partnership, is committed to the goal of detecting 70 percent of TB cases worldwide and successfully treating 85 percent of them. Achievement of these targets will be necessary to slow and control the spread of TB. The agency is training health care workers in the public and private sector, and NGOs to fight TB, while investing in the development of new diagnostics and treatment regimens.
India serves as a great example of how political will and commitment from the Government of India with key partners can make a difference. Direct support for DOTS implementation in Haryana state achieved a treatment success and case detection rate of 83 percent and 64 percent respectively in 2002. Full coverage of its 22 million population will be achieved by the end of the year. Nationwide DOTS coverage has increased from 50 percent in 2002 to 65 percent in 2003 with full national coverage targeted by 2005.
Poverty and weak healthcare systems in developing countries are the main reasons for the rise in TB as this air-borne illness is transmitted by the cough or sneeze of sick persons. Poor countries, where individuals often live, work, and travel in crowded conditions and do not have immediate access to treatment, are the most severely affected. Because TB commonly strikes people between the ages of 15 and 54, death and lost productivity due to TB pose a serious development problem.
The resurgence of tuberculosis also has been fueled by the growing HIV/AIDS epidemic, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa. The HIV virus weakens the human immune system, making it easier to contract transmittable diseases like TB, or to progress from latent TB infection to active TB disease.
USAID fights TB in 34 countries, 16 of which are among the 22 nations with the most severe epidemics of the disease. For more information about USAID efforts to actively respond to the TB epidemic, visit www.usaid.gov.
The U.S. Agency for International Development has provided economic and humanitarian assistance worldwide for more than 40 years.
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