Non-governmental organizations and civil society groups advocate for TB in U.S. government FY2017 appropriations
As planning for U.S. government spending in fiscal year (FY) 2017 is underway, advocates from U.S.-based NGOs and civil society groups have appealed to legislators to prioritize TB.
Letters to three key House and Senate subcommittees--the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (LHHSE) Subcommittee, the Defense Subcommittee, and the Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs--called for inclusion of TB in domestic health, foreign development, defense, and biomedical research initiatives or budgets.
Letters to the House and Senate LHHSE Subcommittees urged legislators to ensure that the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority's (BARDA) new Emerging Infectious Disease Division efforts and the Combating Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria (CARB) initiative include work on TB.
In separate letters, advocates asked the House and Senate LHHSE Subcommittees to provide $243 million in TB funding for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in FY2017 appropriations. This funding is of critical importance for the CDC's Division of TB Elimination to effectively implement the domestic components of the National Action Plan for Combating Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis released by the White House in December 2015.
A letter to the Senate Defense Subcommittee encouraged members of the Subcommittee to maintain TB on the list of approved diseases for the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program (CDMRP) Peer Reviewed Medical Research Program (PRMRP). Inclusion on this list allows for the Department of Defense (DoD) to invest in TB research programs.
Advocates asked the House and Senate Subcommittees on State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs to provide $400 million in funding for U.S. Agency for International Development's (USAID) global TB program in its FY2017 appropriations bill. This funding is necessary to build global capacity to address all forms of TB and to rapidly implement global activities under the National Action Plan for Combating Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis.
