On Tuesday, September 29, 2009, the Kaiser Family Foundation held a live, interactive webcast from its Washington, D.C., studio featuring an expert panel discussing the U.S. strategy for combating the global tuberculosis (TB) epidemic. TB, a preventable and curable disease, remains one of the world’s major causes of illness and death, resulting in close to 2 million deaths in 2007. The majority of TB cases and deaths are concentrated in developing countries, particularly those in Asia and Africa.  During this live webcast, the panel discussed the U.S. government’s global response to TB, including the status of a congressionally-mandated five-year global TB strategy, how such a strategy will be integrated into the administration’s new, broader, Global Health Initiative, and key challenges that remain — such as the link between HIV and TB in combating the disease around the world.

Kaiser Family Foundation Vice President Jen Kates moderated the discussion with:

• Christine Sizemore, chief, Tuberculosis, Leprosy and other Mycobacterial Diseases Section, Division of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), National Institutes of Health (NIH) | Bio (.pdf)
• Cheri Vincent, senior public health advisor, Infectious Diseases Division, Bureau for Global Health, United States Agency for International Development (USAID) | Bio (.pdf)
• Christine Lubinski, vice president for Global Health at the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) and director of the Center for Global Health Policy | Bio (.pdf)
• Robin Wood, director, Desmond Tutu HIV Centre (DTHC), Institute of Infectious Diseases and Molecular Medicine, University of Cape Town | Bio (.pdf)

Event Date

Sep 29, 2009