White House releases plan to counter MDR-TB

The White House has released a report today outlining the government’s plan to reduce the global spread of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis during the next 3 to 5 years.

Perspective from Atul Malhotra, MD

The National Action Plan for Combating Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis was developed by an interagency working group after the enactment of the White House’s antibiotic resistance plan, released earlier this year, and builds on previously established mandates of various federal agencies to reduce the global impact of TB, according to a press release. The plan is intended to guide government action in this area and act as a model for affected countries and the private sector.

“Action taken now, while it is still possible to reverse the development and transmission of MDR-TB, will improve health and prosperity around the world,” White House administrators wrote in the report. “It will also ensure that the health and security benefits derived from decades of strategic U.S. investments in global health are maintained and continue to grow.”

Major goals of the plan include:

strengthening the domestic capacity to treat and prevent MDR-TB;
improving the international capacity to treat and prevent MDR-TB, and encourage collaboration between affected international public and private sectors; and
increasing MDR-TB research and development.

Thomas R. Frieden

TB is responsible for more annual deaths than any other infectious disease, according to a WHO report released in October. In 2014, there were more than 1.5 million deaths and 9.6 million new cases, 3.3% of which were estimated by WHO researchers to be MDR-TB.

“The White House’s National Action Plan is a critical step to combat MDR-TB,” CDC Director Thomas R. Frieden, MD, MPH, said in a statement. “CDC sends our doctors, nurses and scientists to the front lines to find, cure and prevent TB before it develops resistance to last-line antibiotics so we can eliminate deaths from this curable disease.”

Reference: National Action Plan for Combating Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis. https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/microsites/ostp/national_action_plan_for_tuberculosis_20151204_final.pdf. Accessed December 22, 2015.

Perspective

Atul Malhotra, MD

The American Thoracic Society applauds President Barack Obama and the Administration for the release of the National Action Plan to Combat Drug Resistant Tuberculosis (TB) today.

ATS TB experts played an active role in helping the administration reach its decision, emphasizing the need for increased funding for domestic and global TB control and research programs.

In October, the WHO reported that TB deaths have now surpassed HIV/AIDS deaths, making TB the leading global infectious disease killer. The continued spread of drug resistant TB, which is more complicated and expensive to treat, is a serious global health problem that requires urgent action.

The ATS welcomes the release of the National Action Plan to Combat Drug Resistant TB. Drug resistant TB, a dangerous strain that we are all vulnerable to because it is an airborne disease, is one of the top global health challenges, and it requires urgent action and commitment from governments around the world. This plan provides a strong framework to guide U.S. government efforts through the USAID, CDC, NIH and other agencies to respond to drug resistant TB, including the development of new diagnosis, treatment, and prevention tools to fight this disease.

The ATS urges the Administration and Congress to allocate the funding needed to implement this important global health plan beginning in fiscal year 2017, and we pledge to work with them to accomplish this.

Atul Malhotra, MD

President of The American Thoracic Society

Disclosures: