U.S. should be part of international health efforts
The infectious disease that kills the most people on earth is no longer AIDS or polio. It is tuberculosis. Over 10 million people contract the disease each year and 1.7 million lives are lost annually. Around the world, 40 percent of people who have active TB are not diagnosed or treated.
Fully a third of the people alive on earth today have latent TB. TB crosses national borders and sickens people in every state in our nation and most cities in Washington state.
It is for this reason that I am thankful that Sen. Patty Murray, Sen. Maria Cantwell and Rep. Derek Kilmer all signed letters to the Trump Administration requesting that the United States provide important leadership at the United Nations regarding ending the epidemic of tuberculosis and finding and treating the missing 40 percent of people who are ill from it.
On Sept. 26th, the UN will host a High Level Meeting to End Tuberculosis, the first international meeting of this sort to be held. The U.S. should provide essential leadership towards ending the pandemic of tuberculosis. It is in the interest of the U.S. and is among the most humane work we should be doing.
I thank Sens. Murray and Cantwell and Rep. Kilmer for their foresight, compassion and courage in making this recommendation and signing those letters.
By: Beth Wilson
Source: Kitsap Sun