Experts meet to discuss U.S., global TB drug shortages

The Center for Global Health Policy's "Science Speaks" blog reports on a meeting held last week "to discuss the problem of U.S. and global tuberculosis [TB] drug shortages," writing, "While the meeting was prompted by the impact of drug shortages on budget-decimated [U.S.] state and city tuberculosis programs and their patients, speakers included Dr. Joël Keravec, manager of the Global Drug Facility, an initiative of the Stop TB Partnership to find and fund reliable supplies of quality TB drugs," as well as "representatives from other state and local tuberculosis programs, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and [the] CDC's Division of Tuberculosis Elimination." The blog notes, "Across those lines they discussed a common theme -- that when efforts against tuberculosis are effective, case rates drop, leading to budget cuts that hobble the efforts that worked: burdening staff, limiting disease detection, hindering treatment" (Barton, 1/22).