Tuberculosis funds should not be cut

What many think of as a disease from the days of “La Boheme” – tuberculosis – is today the world’s leading infectious killer. According to new data from the World Health Organization, the age-old scourge is even worse than we knew – with more people falling sick, more people dying, and more cases of dangerous drug-resistant strains than we previously thought. How is this possible when TB is both preventable and curable?

TB will only end when the world summons the energy and commitment to end it. But the White House has tried to cut TB funding for the last five years. We have to demand that our next president and Congress reverse course, making the end of TB a priority in our policies and in our investments. This is a problem we can solve, and it’s time to take action before the TB epidemic becomes even worse and more widespread.

-Margaret Keller, Minneapolis

 

Agent Orange effects eyed

In regard to the “Agent Orange” clipping from the Rochester Post Bulletin, which appeared in the September
issue of Access Press:

This was interesting to me because my dad hadgone to his 50th anniversary of serving in WWII. As he spoke with his compatriots, he learned that quite a few of them had children with a crippling disease, as do three of us, his children. The reunion group was chiefly radar men on a ship and perhaps never had contact with bio-hazards. Maybe more research should be conducted on the effects of war stress and the potential damage to DNA?

Thank you for your interesting articles.

-Laura Hill, Roseville