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Together we can fight TB! 
Many people think that tuberculosis (TB) has been eliminated from the U.S., but this is far from true.

Did you know?

• One-third of the world's population is infected with the bacteria that cause TB, and one in ten of those infected develop active TB.
• Around 14,000 Americans currently have TB.
• Today's TB vaccine was introduced in the early 1900s, and over time, its effectiveness has greatly diminished.
• Strains of TB have developed that are resistant to all of our major anti-TB drugs.

U.S. and global efforts to combat TB are falling short.

The U.S. House of Representatives is now considering the Comprehensive TB Elimination Act, which would greatly expand our efforts to combat TB, including the development of new, effective drugs, diagnostics, and vaccines.

Call your Representatives at 1-800-828-0498 and tell them to cosponsor the Comprehensive TB Elimination Act (H.R. 1532) to prevent the spread of drug-resistant TB in the U.S. and to develop new medical tools to fight TB.

For a summary of the bill, click here.  

World Malaria Day 2008
April 25 was the first World Malaria Day.

World Malaria Day is a day to make a renewed commitment to ridding the world of this devastating disease. For the first time ever, people from around the globe came together to recognize that malaria is truly "a disease without borders," and that together we can fight it. 

Families USA calls on global health advocates to remember that while we have critical tools to help in that fight—bed nets, insecticides, and drug treatments—we can’t rest there. Malaria has outwitted us time and again. To win the fight, we’ll have to continually come up with new strategies and tools, and that requires research. An investment in malaria research is an investment in our own health, and the world's health too.

What's needed to fight malaria?   
Read A Malaria Community Statement, with contributions by Families USA's Global Health Initiative, which calls on Congress to commit to specific leadership steps in the fight against malaria.

Interested in learning more?
Test your knowledge about malaria by taking our short quiz.

Have some fun for a good cause.
You can do something simple to help now just by playing a game. The U.N. Foundation and Nothing But Nets have created a new game called Deliver the Net. Click here to play the game, and a bed net will be delivered on your behalf.

Infectious Disease Threats: What’s Next?
Do you remember SARS? Heard of the West Nile Virus? Haven’t yet heard of Chikungunya or the Nipah Virus? These are infectious diseases that have their origins elsewhere. Some, like SARS and West Nile Virus, have traveled here. Others haven’t, yet.

There are things that we can do—like increasing disease surveillance funding and acting quickly when threats arise—to keep emerging diseases in check.

Families USA's Global Health Initiative hosted a congressional briefing on April 16, 2008. Dr. Ali Khan (CDC) and Dr. Peter Daszak (Consortium for Conservation Medicine) shared their experiences and knowledge of infectious disease threats and their work in addressing them. Learn more about emerging infectious diseases and how they travel the globe by viewing their presentations.

• Dr. Ali Khan’s Presentation, pdf
• Dr. Peter Daszak’s Presentation, pdf 

Advocating for more funding for CDC’s global health work can help keep us—and the rest of the world—safe from emerging diseases. Click here to learn more and join us in advocating for more global health research funding.

Tell us YOUR global health story!
Have you lived or worked in a developing country? Have you witnessed the hardships and struggles of communities living with illness and without treatment? Or perhaps you fell ill while abroad? Whatever your global health story is, we want to know it. Click here to tell us your story.