Efforts To Address MDR-TB, XDR-TB Require ‘Full-Scale Global Response’

Fox News: CDC Chief Frieden: World must act now to stop drug-resistant TB
Tom Frieden, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

“With a half million new cases each year, multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) is spreading around the globe. The world must act decisively. There can be no delay. That is why on Dec. 22, 2015, President Obama announced the National Action Plan for Combating Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis. It is a strong, unambiguous call for doctors, nurses, scientists, and health and political leaders worldwide to take rapid, focused action. … Fighting TB — especially MDR-TB — is a high priority at CDC. Our Division of Tuberculosis Elimination and Division of Global HIV and TB work to find and cure all TB patients in the U.S. while improving international TB control efforts by strengthening laboratory and surveillance networks, building a public health workforce through training and mentorship, and developing new tools and approaches to address TB and MDR-TB in more than 25 countries. But we can’t do it alone. MDR-TB and [extensively drug-resistant (XDR-TB)] strains emerge and spread every day, and this global threat requires a full-scale global response. The clock is ticking” (1/7).

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