Feature Article... Nunn-Lugar Working to Stop TB Spread The World Health Organization reported in February that parts of the former Soviet Union had the highest ever outbreaks of drug-resistant tuberculosis cases recorded globally and warned that the rates could soar even higher, spreading the fatal disease more widely. Meanwhile, 13 biological monitoring stations have been built to date by the Nunn-Lugar program: four are in Georgia, six in Uzbekistan, two in Kazakhstan and one in Azerbaijan. These stations are intended to establish the first line of defense against infectious diseases by detecting outbreaks earlier and serving as a liaison with medical experts in the region and the United States. Monitoring stations are also part of a U.S. government interagency effort to get an early warning on the spread of TB and other infectious diseases and research strains to develop responsive therapies through the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction Program. The Nunn-Lugar program also has sponsored the development of diagnostic kits that can identify infectious diseases more rapidly. Scientists working in the program have improved immunizations for tuberculosis. The Nunn-Lugar program is also increasing security in cooperation with host governments to ensure that dangerous diseases and pathogens are appropriately safeguarded and inventoried in their laboratories. “Researchers funded by Nunn-Lugar are doing remarkable work in detecting and preventing the spread of infectious diseases. They are working on the frontline where these scourges are breaking out, and the work is critical in stanching rapid spread of diseases,” Senator Lugar said. “Work done in these laboratories will be on the frontiers of discoveries to help millions of people. In Soviet times, some of these labs were researching the nefarious use of strains as biological weapons. The conversion and transparency in itself has been important.” During Senator Lugar’s visit to Kazakhstan January 9-11, 2008, a team of American scientists working under the Nunn-Lugar program quietly entered the country to begin the careful packaging of bubonic and pneumonic plague samples in accordance with international safety standards for the transport of dangerous biological materials. The samples were safely transported to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Fort Collins, Colorado, marking the successful completion of a five-year negotiation involving Lugar and Nunn-Lugar program officials to secure, transport and develop a research program for the pathogens. In November 1991, Senator Lugar (R-IN) and Senator Sam Nunn (D-GA) authored the Nunn-Lugar Act, which established the Cooperative Threat Reduction Program. This program has provided U.S. funding and expertise to help the former Soviet Union safeguard and dismantle its enormous stockpiles of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, related materials, and delivery systems. In 2003, Congress adopted the Nunn-Lugar Expansion Act, which authorized the Nunn-Lugar program to operate outside the former Soviet Union to address proliferation threats. In 2004, Nunn-Lugar funds were committed for the first time outside of the former Soviet Union to destroy chemical weapons in Albania, under a Senator Lugar-led expansion of the program. The Nunn-Lugar scorecard now totals 7,260 strategic nuclear warheads deactivated, 674 intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) destroyed, 496 ICBM silos eliminated, 119 ICBM mobile launchers destroyed, 623 submarine launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) eliminated, 456 SLBM launchers eliminated, 30 nuclear submarines capable of launching ballistic missiles destroyed, 155 bomber eliminated, 906 nuclear air-to-surface missiles (ASMs) destroyed, 194 nuclear test tunnels eliminated, 377 nuclear weapons transport train shipments secured, upgraded security at 16 nuclear weapons storage sites, and built and equipped 13 biological monitoring stations. Perhaps most importantly, Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan are nuclear weapons free as a result of cooperative efforts under the Nunn-Lugar program. Those countries were the third, fourth and eighth largest nuclear weapons powers in the world. Beyond nuclear, chemical and biological elimination, the Nunn-Lugar program has worked to reemploy scientists and facilities related to weapons of mass destruction in peaceful research initiatives. The International Science and Technology Centers, of which the United States is the leading sponsor, engaged 58,000 former weapons scientists in peaceful work. The International Proliferation Prevention Program has funded 750 projects involving 14,000 former weapons scientists and created some 580 new peaceful high-tech jobs. Senator Lugar makes annual oversight trips to Nunn-Lugar sites in the former Soviet Union and Albania. Senator Lugar and former-Senator Nunn visited Russia, Ukraine and Albania in August 2007 to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the Nunn-Lugar program. On the web:
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