Dear desirae
Recently - you made a difference. You raised your voice and made yourself heard. Thanks to you the House and Senate voted for more than 4.5 billion to fight global AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. This unprecedented funding demonstrates the power of your voice joining the chorus demanding the US do what is right. Thank you for that voice and please consider giving just a few more minutes of your time in support of combating the deadly new threat of Extremely Drug Resistant Tuberculosis.
Thank you again
The Team at GAA
Spend a Minute - Save a Life
Challenge the House and Senate Leadership to take the appropriate actions to protect us all against Extremely Drug Resistant Tuberculosis (XDR-TB).
Issue:
A new form of tuberculosis has emerged that is virtually incurable. It is also fatally quick acting in people already infected with HIV. XDR-TB, as with TB, is spread through the air so it is highly contagious. The best way to protect ourselves here at home is through prevention. Missteps in how we handle this new global threat will not only cost billions of dollars but an untold number of human lives.
In a recent letter to Congress, Archbishop Desmond Tutu wrote, "I ask you to extend a hand of friendship that will save the lives of my fellow Africans and protect the commitments and progress we have made in the fight against these killer diseases". Please join Archbishop Tutu in speaking out to your elected officials in support of including the Domestic/Global Health Package is in the Emergency Supplemental Spending Bill. It will consist of $300 million in emergency funding for TB in Africa and $252 million additional funding for domestic TB control as part of the expected defense supplemental bill in early 2007.
Take Action:
Contact your representatives today and demand they vocalize support personally and write to House and Senate Leadership (House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid) and the chairs of the Appropriations Committees (Representative David Obey and Senator Robert Byrd) in support of the Domestic/Global Health Package.
You can call your representatives via the Capital Switchboard at 202-224-3121 or you can either email or fax them.
What to Say:
Phone Script:
My name is [ ] and I am a constituent of Senator [ ]. I am calling to ask him/her to vocalize support to the leadership in including the Domestic/Global Health Package as part of the Emergency Supplemental Spending Bill. Due to the recent de-funding of our domestic TB Control programs we are not prepared to face this threat in the US. The best way protect us as a nation from the highly contagious and virtually incurable Extremely Drug Resistant Tuberculosis is to prevent outbreaks world wide.
Remember - you do not need to be an expert to make these calls. Speak from the heart and know you could be saving someone's life.
Sample Email or Fax:
Dear Member of Congress,
As your constituent I am writing to express my concern at the growing threat of Extremely Drug Resistant Tuberculosis (XDR-TB) both here and abroad. Due to the recent de-funding of our domestic TB Control programs we are not prepared to face this threat in the US. The best way protect us as a nation from the highly contagious and virtually incurable XDR-TB is to prevent outbreaks world wide.
I am asking you to speak personally and write to the leadership and Appropriations Chair in support of including the Domestic/Global Health package which designates $300 million in emergency funding for TB in Africa and $252 million in additional funding for domestic TB as part of the expected defense supplemental bill in early 2007. This would include a package of critical domestic and global health priorities including increased domestic and international TB control funding to respond to the outbreaks of XDR-TB that threaten to create incurable strains of TB and undermine progress on AIDS treatment scale-up.
Sincerely,
Additional Information:
Background:
Tuberculosis (TB) has long since been a relentless disease globally and new strains are appearing in the U.S. in the fatal form of Extremely Drug Resistant Tuberculosis or XDR-TB. This strain is essentially incurable. In addition, it can be quickly fatal. Within two weeks of its clinical appearance in those already living with HIV, 60% will have died. At this point, according to Michael E. Fleenor, MD, MPH, chair of the Advisory Council for the Elimination of Tuberculosis, the US has no plan or tools in place to deal with this very real emerging threat. Since TB is spread through the air from person-to-person, the best way to protect ourselves at home is to address it globally by identifying people with contagious tuberculosis early and preventing and reducing its spread to others.
XDR-TB is already present in the U.S. and foreshadows a major public health calamity if not addressed urgently. As we learned in the 1990s, drug resistant TB is created by inappropriate treatment; the situation at that time was forced by disassembly of case management capacities of local and state TB programs as funding was reduced. The damage caused by this misstep cost billions to repair. Recent de-funding of categorical TB Control programs once again is leading us down the same pathway. The $252 million supplemental appropriation for 2007 requested by ACET will restore program capacity and create new tools to protect our citizens from this real threat. And the $300 million TB supplement to Africa will help prevent resistant strains of TB from arriving on our shores
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