Santa Clara County Deserves More Funds To Help Fight TB
The high rate of tuberculosis cases in California and Santa Clara County in particular should spur federal officials to "recognize the degree of the problem and allocate more resources to the state and county to fight one of the world's most worrisome diseases," a San Jose Mercury News editorial states.
According to the editorial, California had more than 20% of the nation's TB cases in 2006, while Santa Clara County had more cases than 35 states.
The editorial notes that California and the county receive only $4,024 per TB case from CDC, but the county spends $4 million annually to fight TB. By contrast, Baltimore had 160 fewer cases than Santa Clara County in 2006 but received $7,800 per case, while New York receives $9,188, according to the editorial.
The editorial urges local lawmakers and public health officials to join in pressuring the federal government to increase funding for Santa Clara County "to treat and educate its residents to prevent further spread of the disease" (San Jose Mercury News, 1/4).