Foreign Relations Committee Passes Global AIDS, TB, Malaria Bill

Includes Provisions Written by Senators Boxer and Smith to Combat Tuberculosis

March 13, 2008 -- Washington, DC – Today, the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee passed the Tom Lantos and Henry J. Hyde United States Global Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Reauthorization Act, which includes language written by Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Gordon H. Smith (R-OR) to increase funding to combat international tuberculosis.

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Senator Boxer said, “TB is a vast international threat that claims the lives of 1.6 million people each year. The good news is that we know how to treat and cure TB. This bill includes language I wrote with Senator Smith to provide increased funding for the prevention, treatment, and control of tuberculosis. We have an obligation to take the steps necessary to stop this killer immediately.”

Senator Smith said, “The fight against tuberculosis goes hand in hand with the fight against HIV/AIDS. Together, the two create a lethal combination for millions of people each year. I am pleased that the Senate is taking this important step forward in combating these killers.”

The Tom Lantos and Henry J. Hyde United States Global Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Reauthorization Act will authorize $50 billion over the next five years, including $4 billion for tuberculosis.

This bill includes critical provisions of the Stop Tuberculosis Now Act of 2007, introduced by Senators Boxer and Smith to bring U.S. policy in line with the Global Plan to Stop TB, a ten year strategy to cut the number of TB deaths in half by 2015. Senators Boxer and Smith first introduced legislation to combat international tuberculosis in 1999.

This legislation now goes to the full Senate for consideration.

Source: Senator Barbara Boxer