Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, delivered a forceful message on the need for a “storm” of attention and resources devoted to developing new TB treatment and prevention efforts.

“It is imperative that we transform the way we diagnose, treat, prevent, and control TB — through biomedical research and public health measures — to the same extent that we have done and will continue to do with HIV/AIDS,” Fauci writes in this commentary on MSNBC’s website today. “We are beginning to see the winds of change, but what we really need is a storm.”

In an echo of the speech he delivered this summer at the Pacific Health Summit in Seattle, Fauci, a powerful leader in infectious disease research, outlined the need for a robust new TB research agenda. “The TB research effort will require a sustained and long-term commitment from government, academia, industry and philanthropy.”

Click here to read the whole piece and here to read our earlier post on Fauci’s remarks in Seattle.