III 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 393 

Supporting the goals of World Tuberculosis Day to raise awareness about 

tuberculosis. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 24, 2014 

Mr. BROWN (for himself and Mr. ISAKSON) submitted the following resolution; 

which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

RESOLUTION 

Supporting the goals of World Tuberculosis Day to raise 

awareness about tuberculosis. 

Whereas 1⁄3 of the population of the world is infected with 

the tuberculosis bacterium; 

Whereas more than 9,500 tuberculosis cases were reported in 

the United States in 2013; 

Whereas more than 1,300,000 individuals die from tuberculosis each year; 

Whereas over 95 percent of tuberculosis deaths occur in lowand middle-income developing countries; 

Whereas tuberculosis is the second leading global infectious 

disease killer, behind HIV/AIDS, and claims 1,800,000 

lives each year; 


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•SRES 393 IS 

Whereas tuberculosis is a leading killer of people living with 

HIV/AIDS, causing 1⁄5 of all deaths among people with 

HIV/AIDS; 

Whereas tuberculosis is the third leading killer of adult 

women, and the stigma associated with tuberculosis disproportionately affects women, causing women to delay 

seeking care and interfering with treatment adherence; 

Whereas the global tuberculosis pandemic and the spread of 

drug-resistant tuberculosis present a persistent public 

health threat to the United States; 

Whereas according to 2009 data from the World Health Organization, 3.6 percent of all new tuberculosis cases are 

drug resistant; 

Whereas multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (referred to in this 

preamble as ‘‘MDR-TB’’) is present in virtually all countries surveyed; 

Whereas approximately 450,000 people around the world developed MDR-TB in 2012; 

Whereas extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (referred to 

in this preamble as ‘‘XDR-TB’’) is a strain of tuberculosis that is very difficult and expensive to treat and 

has high and rapid fatality rates, especially among HIV/ 

AIDS patients; 

Whereas there have been more than 63 cases of XDR-TB in 

the United States between 2004 and 2014; 

Whereas as of September 2013, 92 countries have reported 

at least 1 case of XDR-TB; 

Whereas the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated, in 2009, that the cost of hospitalizing a single patient with XDR-TB is $483,000; 


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•SRES 393 IS 

Whereas, between 2005 and 2007, the 373 XDR-TB cases in 

the United States collectively cost the health care system 

an estimated $53,000,000; 

Whereas the death rate of tuberculosis dropped 45 percent 

between 1990 and 2012; 

Whereas the Institute of Medicine found that a decrease in 

tuberculosis control funding and the spread of HIV/AIDS 

caused the resurgence of tuberculosis between 1980 and 

1992; 

Whereas although the number of tuberculosis cases in the 

United States continues to decline, progress towards 

eliminating tuberculosis has slowed and the disease does 

not recognize borders; 

Whereas African Americans are 8 times more likely to have 

tuberculosis than Caucasians, and significant disparities 

exist among other minorities in the United States, including Native Americans, Asian Americans, and Hispanic 

Americans; 

Whereas over 530,000 children became infected with tuberculosis in 2012; 

Whereas tobacco use greatly increases the risk of tuberculosis 

and death, and more than 20 percent of tuberculosis 

cases worldwide are attributed to smoking; 

Whereas diabetes is a major risk factor for tuberculosis, and 

people with diabetes are more likely to develop the disease and have a higher risk of death due to the disease; 

Whereas a new technology, known as Xpert, developed in the 

United States, is able to diagnose cases of tuberculosis 

within 2 hours, and such technology can even diagnose 

cases that are difficult to detect, such as cases involving 

individuals living with HIV; 


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•SRES 393 IS 

Whereas although drugs, diagnostics, and vaccines for tuberculosis exist, these technologies are antiquated and increasingly inadequate for controlling the global epidemic; 

Whereas Xpert can quickly detect resistance to 1 of the primary tuberculosis drugs, but other tests to detect drug 

resistance take at least 1 month to complete and the 

medical community must develop even faster drug susceptibility tests to stop the spread of drug-resistant tuberculosis; 

Whereas Bacillus Calmette-Gue ́rin, a tuberculosis vaccine 

that is known as ‘‘BCG’’, provides some protection to 

children but has little or no efficacy in preventing pulmonary tuberculosis in adults; 

Whereas there is a critical need for the development of tuberculosis drugs that individuals can safely take concurrently with antiretroviral therapy for HIV; 

Whereas the Millennium Development Goal of the World 

Health Organization is to reverse the spread of tuberculosis by 2015; 

Whereas the enactment of the Tom Lantos and Henry J. 

Hyde United States Global Leadership Against HIV/ 

AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Reauthorization Act of 

2008 (Public Law 110–293; 122 Stat. 2918) and the 

Comprehensive Tuberculosis Elimination Act of 2008 

(Public Law 110–392; 122 Stat. 4195) provides a historic United States commitment to the global eradication 

of tuberculosis, including a commitment to successfully 

treating 4,500,000 tuberculosis patients and 90,000 

MDR-TB patients between 2008 and 2013 and to providing additional treatment through coordinated multilateral efforts; 


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•SRES 393 IS 

Whereas the United States Agency for International Development provides financial and technical assistance to nearly 

40 highly burdened tuberculosis countries, supports the 

development of new diagnostic and treatment tools, and 

is authorized to support research to develop new vaccines 

to combat tuberculosis; 

Whereas the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 

partnering with the other entities of the United States 

and individual States and territories, directs the national 

tuberculosis elimination program, directs essential national tuberculosis surveillance, technical assistance, and 

prevention activities, and supports the development of 

new diagnostic, treatment, and prevention tools to combat tuberculosis; 

Whereas the National Institutes of Health, through its many 

institutes and centers, plays the leading role in basic and 

clinical research on the identification, treatment, and prevention of tuberculosis; 

Whereas the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and 

Malaria provides 63 percent of all international financing 

for tuberculosis programs; 

Whereas the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and 

Malaria finances— 

(1) proposals worth $3,200,000,000 in 112 countries; 

(2) tuberculosis treatment for 6,000,000 people; and 

(3) 1,800,000 HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis services; 

Whereas the prevalence and mortality rates of tuberculosis 

are declining in many countries with programs supported 

by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and 

Malaria; and 


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•SRES 393 IS 

Whereas March 24, 2014, is World Tuberculosis Day, a day 

that commemorates the date in 1882 on which Dr. Robert Koch announced his discovery of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacteria that causes tuberculosis: Now, 

therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) supports the goals of World Tuberculosis 

3 Day to raise awareness about tuberculosis; 

4 (2) commends the progress of anti-tuberculosis 

5 efforts by entities that include the United States 

6 Agency for International Development, the Centers 

7 for Disease Control and Prevention, the National In8 stitutes of Health, and the Global Fund to Fight 

9 AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria; and 

10 (3) reaffirms the commitment to global tuber11 culosis control set forth in section 4 of the United 

12 States Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, 

13 and Malaria Act of 2003 (22 U.S.C. 7603). 

Æ 


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