CDC Joins Forces with White House, Other USG agencies to Launch National Plan to Combat Multidrug-Resistant TB in DC

CDC is a Key Architect and Implementer of the National Action Plan

CDC in partnership with other U.S. government agencies, public health stakeholders, and global partners joined the White House today to help launch the “National Action Plan for Combating Multidrug Resistant TB (MDR TB)” in Washington, DC. The White House released the plan online on December 22. It is a crucial step to address MDR TB, a growing public health threat that reflects missed opportunities to find, cure, and prevent TB at the earliest stages of infection. Despite being preventable and curable, TB ranks alongside HIV as the top cause of death from infectious disease globally. In 2014, nearly 10 million people became ill with TB, resulting in 1.5 million deaths.

CDC Director Tom Frieden, MD, MPH, was among U.S. public health leadership who presented at today’s launch in the nation’s capital. He was joined by the agency’s Director for the Division of Tuberculosis Elimination Philip Lobue, MD, and Dr. Susan Maloney, from CDC’s Division of Global HIV and TB as well as senior representatives from the National Institutes of Health, WHO, the National TB Controllers Association, the Stop TB Partnership. The event was hosted by United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to provide stakeholders a direct opportunity to engage with government officials working on implementing the plan. Although the U.S. has a key role to play in combating MDR-TB, it cannot do it alone. Over the next five years, the U.S. will work with the public and private sector, affected countries, non-government organizations, and global partners to meet the goals identified in the plan.

MDR TB is resistant to at least two of the first-line drugs used to treat TB, and it is now found in every country in the world. WHO estimates that there were nearly 500,000 MDR-TB cases globally in 2014, only one in four of which were diagnosed. Compared to TB that is not drug resistant, MDR TB takes a hefty human and economic toll – it requires longer treatment times and costlier drugs, can cause serious and permanent side effects, and significantly increases the risk of death. If left unchecked, 75 million additional people could die from MDR-TB by 2050, costing the global economy $17 trillion in lost productivity.

The White House National Action Plan for Combating Multidrug Resistant TB

The White House National Action Plan charts the best course of action to ensure the U.S. does its part to control the spread of MDR TB; it is designed to:

Strengthen Domestic Capacity to Combat MDR-TB
Improve our ability to prevent TB drug resistance in the U.S. by promptly identifying and treating all patients with TB and those who have been in close contact with them
Expand international capacity and collaboration to combat MDR TB through investments in innovative health technologies and greater access to prevention and care
Accelerate R&D that will lead to new tests that can more quickly diagnose TB, effective vaccines, innovative prevention approaches, and new treatment options

CDC’s Role in Implementing the White House National Action Plan to Combat Multidrug Resistant TB

As a key architect and implementer of the National Acton Plan, CDC is:

Identifying TB hotspots to target screening efforts
Supporting cutting-edge research to create better diagnostic tools and shorter MDR TB treatments
Strengthening the capacity of laboratories to diagnose MDR TB
Establishing best practices to end MDR TB transmission in health facilities
Helping to expedite the discovery of an effective vaccine
Continuing to accelerate efforts to prevent MDR TB among those co-infected with both TB and HIV—through PEPFAR

CDC is at the forefront of innovation to end TB as a global public health threat, providing on-the-ground interventions in more than 25 countries. CDC is also amplifying its global TB efforts by consolidating global TB resources and expertise from across the agency to increase coordination, collaboration and impact. To learn more about CDC’s efforts to fight MDR TB across the globe,
see the following resources:

Fact Sheet

The impact of MDR TB around the world and CDC’s work with partners to fight this epidemic around the world

Infographic

To view the Drug Resistant TB Worldwide Infographic
Click Here

Personal Perspectives

CDC Director Thomas R. Frieden on His Personal Experience with TB

Dr. Frieden discusses how he developed latent TB infection as a young public health worker in New Yorker. He also highlights and introduces the poignant stories of health workers who often contract TB while caring for others.

One Young Doctor’s Journey Back from a Two-Year Battle with MDR TB

Dalene von Delft, a young South African doctor, developed MDR TB while treating patients. After years of toxic treatments, facing the prospect of deafness and even death, she was finally cured of her TB. Now, as a full time ER doctor, she and her husband have dedicated their lives to advocating on behalf of TB sufferers around the world.

Diana Forno is Fighting the Spread of Drug-Resistant TB One Training at a Time

The spread of drug-resistant TB is largely due to a lack of TB controls in place to identify and effectively treat TB before it has the chance to develop resistance. In order to prevent drug-resistant TB from spreading, communities and health care professionals who work with vulnerable high risk populations have to be trained to identify and treat the disease.

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