CDC’s Role in Global TB Control

What We Do

Despite being preventable and treatable, tuberculosis (TB) is now the leading infectious disease killer in the world, taking the lives of 1.8 million people each year. A fourth of the world’s population – some 2 billion people – are infected with TB bacteria, with nearly 10.4 million becoming ill with the disease each year. Of these 10.4 million individuals who become ill with TB, approximately four million are “missed” each year by health systems and do not get the care they need, allowing the disease to continue to be transmitted. Drug-resistant TB poses another serious challenge. Nearly half a million people develop multidrug-resistant TB each year, while extensively drug-resistant TB, an even more severe form of the disease, has been reported in 105 countries. TB is also the leading cause of death among people living with HIV.

Because TB is an airborne disease that is transmitted from person to person, it knows no borders. That’s why CDC is fighting it on two fronts – at home and abroad. CDC’s Division of Global HIV & TB (DGHT) is working to find, cure, and prevent TB worldwide, through on-the-ground interventions in more than 25 countries and global leadership in research and technical expertise. As a result, we are helping to ensure a safer America and a safer world.

Why We Do It

The world has made great strides against TB – 49 million lives have been saved since 2000 – but we cannot win the battle against this disease unless we do more with the tools we have and expand access to diagnosis and treatment. To truly end the epidemic by 2035, we also need better diagnostics; shorter, less toxic treatment options; and a vaccine.

Results

CDC conducts a wide range of activities to find, cure, and prevent TB, including:

• Developing innovative approaches to find and treat the roughly 4 million people each year who develop TB disease who are either undiagnosed, unreported, or inappropriately treated
• Strengthening lab networks and surveillance systems to allow for fast and accurate diagnosis of TB cases
• Identifying the best methods to diagnose TB among children and people living with HIV
• Conducting research to identify better, less toxic treatment regimens that cure patients faster
• Shoring up basic TB prevention and infection control efforts around the world to break the cycle of transmission and prevent the development of drug resistance
• Establishing best practices to end TB transmission in health facilities
• Providing HIV testing to TB patients and supporting HIV treatment for people living with HIV and TB co-infection
• Expanding TB therapy for people living with HIV, whose weakened immune systems make them more vulnerable to becoming ill from TB

CDC is also a technical partner in implementing The White House National Action Plan for Combating Multidrug-Resistant TB at home and abroad.