Economic woes in the US continue to unfold with government cuts to spending impacting on essential service - like TB control. Alabama has
announced that routine skin testing is to cease. However, money worries is not the only reason
“The face of our cases is changing,” she said, noting that many have become more complex and harder to treat because of drug resistance. “Some patients have a lot of other health issues that makes treating them more of a challenge.”
A similar situation is unfolding at Franklin County, where
news of cuts to the TB program has left epidemiologists uneasy,
Public-health officials said the reduced funding will cover only the minimum required by state law and will end programs for screening at-risk groups such as immigrants, world travelers, people who live in homeless shelters or other congregate settings, and those with conditions that weaken their immune systems...
..."We can already predict the consequences, and that is a perilous situation we don't want to find ourselves in," said Larry Schlesinger, chairman of the new department of microbial infections and immunity at Ohio State University.
