HCPH’s program is one of only eight programs, individuals selected as CDC U.S. TB Elimination Champions
In honor of World Tuberculosis Day, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) selected Harris County Public Health’s Tuberculosis Elimination Program as one of only eight programs and individuals in the country to be named 2022 CDC U.S. TB Elimination Champion.
HCPH’s program received this annual recognition for its exemplary efforts in assisting TB patients in Harris County and their families amid the pandemic.
The CDC U.S. TB Elimination Champions Project recognizes accomplishments and best practices from individuals and organizations making significant contributions to eliminating TB in the United States each year. World Tuberculosis Day is this today, March 24.
“During the pandemic, Harris County Public Health kept services to their community operational and added additional clinic days to meet patient demand,” the CDC states on its website. “When patients in the TB program reported food insecurity due to job loss, Harris County Public Health partnered with a local food bank to deliver 14 days’ worth of food to patients with TB disease and their families.”
“It is a great honor for the CDC to recognize our TB Elimination Program. During the pandemic, our staff worked tirelessly to ensure that our TB patients continued to receive the highest level of care despite the challenges created by the COVID pandemic,” HCPH Executive Director Barbie Robinson said. “This recognition recognizes the Department’s efforts to identifying and lifting barriers to make our services accessible to all residents despite their circumstances.”
TB, a contagious bacterial disease that mainly affects the lungs, causes far more deaths than other infectious diseases worldwide. It infects one-third of the world’s population and kills three million people every year – one-quarter of its preventable deaths. Although not as common in the U.S. as in other countries, TB can be a severe threat to those infected and those who contract the disease.
HCPH’s TB Elimination Program provides solutions to fight the spread of TB by:
- Providing patient evaluation and examination services.
- Case management of confirmed and suspected cases.
- Directly observed preventive therapy (DOPT) for children and adults who are household contacts to confirmed or suspected TB cases.
- Investigation and screening of high-risk populations.
- Administering medication through the program’s innovative Video Directly Observed Therapy (VDOT), in which health care workers observe and instruct patients taking their TB medications remotely via a mobile device.
- Providing in-person, appointment-only services for patients at HCPH’s two clinics in unincorporated Harris County (the Antoine site in northwest Houston and the Pasadena site in southeast Harris County).
For more information about the program, visit hcphtx.org/TB or call 713-439-6214.