A new report by the World Health Organization details how drug-resistant strains of tuberculosis are raising the stakes to combat this contagious disease worldwide.

A global epidemic — and security threat — is in the making if this airborne disease is not attacked swiftly and with precision.

Unfortunately, President Obama's budget proposal this year would cut $50 million from a $4 billion, five-year plan to fight TB globally and flatlines money for domestic TB-fighting programs. That's a turnaround from the Bush administration, which pushed through record levels of support to the global fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria in 2008.

This is no time to retreat.

On average, 1.7 million people die each year from TB because it goes untreated.

U.S. statistics show the number of TB cases decreased in this country by 11.4 percent in 2009, according to the Centers for Disease Control, but the rate for immigrants continues to be higher. Rates in parts of Russia, in African countries like Lesotho and in our hemisphere — Haiti, Mexico and the Dominican Republic — are spiking, particularly in rural regions.

Urgency matters now because new antibiotic-resistant strains of TB are emerging. New types of drugs need to be developed that can treat drug-resistant tuberculosis, known as XDR-TB. So far, 58 nations have reported XDR-TB cases, and, more troublesome, there are another 79 countries that didn't track cases, so it's anyone's guess.

Whether rich or poor, TB strikes indiscriminately. This is a global battle, and the United States should be leading the way — not retreating.

— The Miami Herald

After years of neglect, the Environmental Protection Agency's decision to more aggressively scrutinize the controversial chemical bisphenol A is welcome news. Combined with new concerns expressed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, it is a sign that the federal government might finally be serious about BPA.That would be a good thing.For years, federal agencies relied mostly on studies funded by the chemical industry that claimed BPA was safe. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported how the government ignored hundreds of independent studies that found BPA was harmful. The chemical, which is found in dozens of household products including the lining of most food and beverage cans, acts as a hormone and has been found in tests to damage the cells of lab animals. More than 90 percent of Americans have traces of BPA in their systems.The FDA recently reversed an earlier decision finding BPA to be safe and declared that it had some concern over the chemical's effects on the brain, behavior and prostates of fetuses, infants and young children.The decision by the EPA to designate the compound as a "chemical of concern" will require BPA makers to account for how much of the chemical is being produced and where. Manufacturers will have to provide test data to help regulators assess its potential impact.Five states have passed laws banning BPA from baby bottles. The chemical has no business being used in any children's product. We'd like to see it phased out altogether. Federal agencies or Congress should work toward that goal, giving manufacturers time to develop alternatives.But the EPA's decision to take a more active stance toward BPA is a good step forward.— Milwaukee Journal Sentinel