Release #148-97

Contact:Colleen Roche (212) 788-2958, Jack Deacy(212) 788-2969,
Fred Winters (212) 788-5290 (DOH)

MAYOR AND HEALTH COMMISSIONER WITH FEDERAL HEALTH OFFICIALS ANNOUNCE FOURTH STRAIGHT DECREASE IN TUBERCULOSIS CASES IN CITY AND NATION

Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani and New York City Health Commissioner Margaret A. Hamburg, M.D., announced today that the number of new tuberculosis (TB) cases in New York City decreased significantly in 1996 for the fourth consecutive year after a 14 year increase. The announcement was made at Harlem Hospital with Dr. Helene Gayle and Dr. Kenneth Castro of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which announced a lesser downward trend in TB nationwide, and other prominent health officials, including State Health Commissioner Dr. Barbara DeBuono.

Mayor Giuliani announced, "In 1996, New York City led the nation with a decrease in new tuberculosis cases of almost 400, with 2,053 compared to 2,445 in 1995. This represents a 16% drop from 1995 and a 46% drop from the 3,811 cases reported in the peak year of the recent epidemic, 1992. Last year, New York City accounted for 26% of the decrease in all TB cases in the nation.

"The improvement in the number of new cases with multidrug-resistant TB is especially heartening. Drug-resistant strains, which can develop when full treatment is not completed, are especially difficult and expensive to treat and carry a higher risk of dying. Treating a single patient with multidrug-resistant tuberculosis can cost more than a quarter of a million dollars. The number of multidrug-resistant TB cases in New York City has declined by 26% since 1995 and 82% since 1992 -- from 441 to 81."

Officials also recognized 49 Public Health Advisors (PHAs) who started work with the Health Department's Bureau of Tuberculosis Control over the past year, many to provide Directly Observed Therapy (DOT). DOT, in which health care workers watch patients take their anti-TB medications over the six to nine month treatment period, has been primarily responsible for the TB decreases in New York City over the past several years. As a direct result of DOT, the number of new TB patients in 1995 who completed treatment has increased to 96 percent, from less than 50 percent over the 1980s. The World Health Organization (WHO) has cited New York City's DOT program as an international model for treating TB.

Commissioner Hamburg said, "The Directly Observed Therapy program is working because of New York City's strong, continued commitment to this proven therapy, as well as the vigorous, dedicated work of our PHAs, such as those we are recognizing here this morning. DOT is key not only to treating TB, but also to preventing its spread and the onset of strains which could be more deadly.

"It is imperative that we continue to provide adequate resources to control TB. In the 1960s and '70s, we made the mistake of thinking that TB could not resurface in America and we allowed the resources and infrastructure that had been built up to decline. We have learned that we cannot repeat this deadly mistake."

Tuberculosis continues to affect the newest New Yorkers disproportionately. In 1992, at the peak of the recent TB epidemic, foreign-born tuberculosis patients accounted for 18 percent of the City's caseload. Preliminary figures indicate that foreign-born patients accounted for 44 percent of the total cases in 1996.

Other officials in attendance included Dr. David Brandling-Bennet of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Dr. Charles Felton of the American Lung Association, Dr. Rosa Gil, the Mayor's Senior Health Advisor and Chair of the Board of Directors of the Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC), and HHC President Dr. Luis Marcos.

Go to Press Releases | Giuliani Archives | Mayor's Office | NYC.gov Home Page
Contact Us | FAQs | Privacy Statement | Site Map