Tuberculosis Resurgent as Trump Funding Cut Disrupts Treatment Globally [View all]
Source: NYT
"...The whole system of finding, diagnosing and treating tuberculosis — which kills more people worldwide than any other infectious disease — has collapsed in dozens of countries across Africa and Asia since President Trump ordered the aid freeze on Jan. 20, Inauguration Day.
... Family members of infected people are not being put on preventive therapy. Infected adults are sharing rooms in crowded Nairobi tenements, and infected children are sleeping four to a bed with their siblings. Parents who took their sick children to get tested the day before Mr. Trump was inaugurated are still waiting to hear if their children have tuberculosis. And people who have the near-totally drug-resistant form of tuberculosis are not being treated.
... Without testing that confirms whether a person is infected and what type of TB they have, family members cannot start on preventive therapy.
The United States paid for the half-dozen tests that patients need before beginning treatment for multi-drug-resistant TB, to make sure their bodies will be able to tolerate the harsh drugs. These tests can cost $80 or more, beyond the reach of many patients. Without the tests, clinicians don’t know what drugs to prescribe very sick patients. Prescriptions stopped...
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/11/health/tuberculosis-kenya-us-cuts.html?unlocked_article_code=1.3U4.4Pax.58R_GOCT49bn&smid=url-share
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