Educating Congressional Staff on World TB Day

IDSA members and staff discussed the urgent need to accelerate U.S. efforts against the global tuberculosis epidemic on Capitol Hill recently in recognition of World TB Day on March 24. IDSA member Hana Akselrod, MD, MPH joined TB survivors – including IDSA member Aakriti Pandita, MD, who become infected with TB during medical school – in educating congressional staff on the practices, policies and funding needed to achieve the goals of the UN High Level Meeting on ending TB, including finding and treating 40 million people with TB by 2023. IDSA joined with other global health organizations to sponsor a briefing for Senate staff, featuring presentations from the U.S. Agency for International Development, the National TB Controllers Association, and a physician who survived multidrug-resistant TB.