The Threat of MDR-TB

MDR-TB bacteria aren’t affected by the first-choice TB treatments that have saved tens of millions of lives over the past 15 years. Extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB) is impervious to nearly all antibiotics. WHO estimates that there were nearly 500,000 MDR-TB cases and approximately 50,000 cases of XDR-TB globally last year? More than 190,000 people die each year from drug-resistant TB. We must take action now to stop this completely preventable disease. The drugs most likely to cure you can have long-term side effects such as hearing loss and liver damage, and there’s a very real chance that even this exhausting treatment regimen won’t cure you.

The National Action Plan

• Fight MDR-TB at home. We must make sure that every person in our country with TB gets appropriate treatment and that those who have been in close contact with infectious TB patients are monitored and, when necessary, also treated.
• Fight MDR-TB abroad. The U.S. is investing in broader access to diagnosis and treatment, engaging with providers in the most highly affected communities and countries, and developing innovative health technologies. We must accelerate accountable programs to diagnose and effectively treat every patient, for their sake and the world’s.
• Speed up research and development of new ways to prevent, diagnose and treat TB and MDR-TB.

 The National Action Plan dovetails with major efforts already underway. For example, the Global Health Security Agenda, launched in 2014, aims to improve all nations’ ability to find, stop, and prevent disease outbreaks. More than 70 countries have joined the United States in this internationally-led effort. 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 XDR-TB strains emerge and spread every day, and this global threat requires a full-scale global response. The clock is ticking.