TB CASES IN CALIFORNIA ON THE RISE AS NATIONAL NUMBERS FALL

FUNDING AND PREVENTION VITAL ON WORLD TB DAY

March 24, 2004, Los Angeles, CA – AIDS Project Los Angeles (APLA) today joined health advocates across the nation in calling for sustained local tuberculosis (TB) efforts on the occasion of World TB Day 2004. With a 1.9 percent increase in TB cases – while nationwide cases dropped 1.4 percent – California continues to report the highest number of TB cases in the United States.

After a decade of declines in TB cases across the state, California is reporting a case rate of 8.9 per 100,000 residents, with 3,230 cases of TB reported in 2003. While Los Angeles County saw a decrease in case rates, TB transmission continues and increased funding is required to sustain these decreases. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) funding to states and big cities for TB control, for which California is already underrepresented based on case rate, has been cut in 2004. State funding was reduced in 2001-2002 and has since seen no increase.

Worldwide, TB is the leading cause of death for people with AIDS. The compromised immune system of HIV-positive individuals increases the likelihood of developing TB, and the development of active TB speeds the progression of HIV disease to full-blown AIDS. TB is both preventable and curable in HIV-positive individuals.

“TB and HIV constitute an axis of disease and death across the world,” said Craig E. Thompson, executive director of APLA. “Co-infection with TB remains one of the most serious conditions facing people living with HIV in developing countries. Focusing on one without the other is foolish and shortsighted. World TB Day alerts us to the urgency of controlling TB through integrated planning and continued funding streams.”

AIDS Project Los Angeles, one of the nation’s largest AIDS service organizations, provides direct services to more than 10,000 men, women and children living with HIV or AIDS in Los Angeles County each year. Services include prevention education, food banks and nutrition education, professional dental care, housing assistance, transportation, mental health counseling, case management and home health care. APLA is a leader in the provision of bilingual HIV treatment information, in print and on the Internet, and advocates for effective AIDS-related policies and legislation on the local, state and federal level. For more information, please visit www.apla.org.

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