TI "US Says It Can't Fund TB Fight" AU Daubenmier, Judy SO Boston Globe (12/24/93) P. 3 AB The United States cannot help finance the World Health Organization's $9-million fight against tuberculosis, despite a warning that a resurgence of the disease in America is being fueled by the global epidemic. WHO asked the U.S. government to contribute a third of the program's cost to combat TB in third world countries and to prevent its mutation into incurable strains. "It is a logical, simple, cheap thing for America to do to bring a halt to what otherwise will be an incurable plague in the 21st century," declared Richard Bumgarner, deputy director of WHO's TB program. But the U.S. Agency for International Development, which dispenses foreign aid, does not have $3 million to spare, according to the agency's global health chief, Dr. Ann Van Dusen. The agency's health funds are committed to AIDS and child health and family planning programs. The agency's decision illustrates the problem faced by health officials in this tight budget era: Which disease gets priority? WHO contends that attacking TB is important, for it kills 3 million people each year--more than all other infectious disease combined. About one-third of the world's population is infected and 8 million get sick each year. Doctors had hoped to wipe out the disease, but a resurgence has been in effect since 1985. Drug-resistant strains are developing so quickly that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week called for forcibly committing patients who failed to take their medication properly. Copyright (c) 1993 - Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD. This information is provided by the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), National AIDS Clearinghouse as a public service. Non-profit reproduction is encouraged. * Origin: AEGIS/San Juan Capistrano 714.248.2836 (CASAN) (1:103/927) * Provided as a service of THE BACKROOM - NYC * 718-951-8256