News 2010

Do you have the passion and skills to lead TB Alert’s fundraising team? We are seeking a Development Director to join our team in Brighton and help continue to build our crucial work in the UK and overseas.

Please view the Job Description and Person Specification to find out more and for details on how to apply.

Closing date: 19/02/12

Please send any queries about the role to recruitment@tbalert.org
id: 23.01.12DD

(17/01/12) Growing concerns over recent TDR-TB cases - BBC Health

Doctors have expressed growing concerns over the recent cases of TDR-TB in India, reports to the BBC. A team of doctors has been sent to Mumbai to investigate, whilst there are reports of similar 'incurable' TB emerging in Italy and Iran.

TB is usually treated with a six to nine month course of antibiotics. However, the new strains of the bacterium which have developed are increasingly resistant to the antibiotics most commonly used to treat it.

The recent cases of TDR-TB reported have been from patients who come from slum areas of India, where close contact between people mean further spread is likely.This further fuels concern over the capability of doctors to contain the disease in years to come. Patients who do not finish their lengthy course of treatment also present the bacterium with the perfect environment for developing further resistance.

TB Alert trustee Ruth Mcnerney said the new cases represented a "serious threat" to global efforts to control TB. "It's going to take a massive effort and change in political will to get to grips with this - not just from the Indian government but from everyone else. This is a global problem, not just an Indian one."

Read the full article here...

id: 18/01/12BBC

(17/01/12) 'Totally' drug-resistant TB - Daily Mail

Twelve new cases of a virtually untreatable strain of TB have been reported in India, writes the Daily Mail. All 12 of the patients affected have been treated in a hospital in Mumbai and have not responded to any of the medication given to them. A US based TB expert said they appear to be totally resistant to any available drugs.

This is not the first time this type of TB has been reported. In 2003, similar cases were found in both Italy and Iran. In India, the strain has mostly been limited to impoverished areas, and has not spread widely. However, experts believe there are many undocumented cases.

It is reported that no-one expects the Indian TB strains to spread elsewhere. Many of the cases of this kind of TB were not from person-to-person infection, but were caused by patients being treated poorly.

Ordinary TB is easily cured by taking medication for six to nine months. However, if that treatment is interrupted or the dose is cut down, the bacteria can battle back and transmute into a tougher strain that can no longer be eliminated by standard drugs. The disease then becomes harder and more expensive to treat.
Read the full article here...

id: 17/01/12DM

(10/01/12) Totally drug-resistant TB found in India

News of cases of totally drug-resistant TB (TDR-TB) was first published in December in the Clinical Infectious Diseases journal. The article describes the discovery and treatment of four cases of TDR-TB since last October. On Saturday, the Times of India disclosed that there are actually 12 known cases in one hospital, the P. D. Hinduja National Hospital and Medical Research Centre. In the article, Dr. Amita Athawale, a doctor at P.D Hinduja Hospital admits, “The cases we clinically isolate are just the tip of the iceberg." Read the full article here...
id: 10/01/12DRTB

(03/01/12) Infectious diseases in non-UK born populations in the UK

The Health Protection Agency have released their second report on Migrant Health, which has found that, in 2010, 73% of TB cases reported in the UK and nearly 60% of HIV cases were among people born abroad .

The report also found that some migrants may have more complex health needs than the UK born population, influenced by the burden of disease and living conditions in their country of origin, experiences during migration, their circumstances in the UK, as well as factors relating to ethnicity and cultural practices.

The report concludes that meeting the health needs of non-UK born people living in the UK is important both for individual and for public health reasons.

Read the full report on the Health Protection Agency website.
Find out what TB Alert is doing to address health inequalities in migrant populations on The Truth About TB website.

id: 03.01.12Migrants

(22/12/11) New findings on diagnostics for latent TB

In the latest edition of The Lancet, Molebogeng Rangaka and colleagues present results from their systematic review and meta-analysis, showing that current diagnostic devices for latent tuberculosis infection cannot accurately predict the development of active tuberculosis. They also show that interferon-γ release assays (IGRAs), like the tuberculin skin test (TST), have only a moderate predictive value. Login and read the full article here...
id: 22/12/11Lancet

(09/12/11) New study finds post natal women more susceptable to TB

In a combined survey between scientists at the Health Protection Agency (HPA) and the University of East Anglia, researchers analysed data on women with pregnancies between 1996 and 2008 from the General Practice Research Database.

192,801 women who had a total of 264,136 pregnancies were included in the survey and over the 12 year period of study there were 177 TB cases among this group.

Overall the researchers established that the rate of TB among pregnant and post natal women was 15.4 per 100,000 people, which is far higher than the rate outside of pregnancy - 9.1 per 100,000.

Dr Dominik Zenner, a consultant in public health at the HPA, who wrote the report said: “The aim of this survey was to establish whether pregnancy increases the risk of TB and this was the first primary care based study to quantify the risk of TB during pregnancy and post pregnancy. Although we found a significantly increased risk of TB in the six months following pregnancy, but not during pregnancy, the risk during pregnancy is nonetheless likely to be increased. This is in keeping with the observation that pregnant women are disproportionally affected by other respiratory illnesses such as flu.”

Read the full study here...

Natalie, a young mother with two children, had her TB diagnosis delayed durig her pregnancy. Read her story here...

id: 09/12/11HPA

(07/12/11) Annual TB Surveillance Report: Health Protection Agency

The Health Protection Agency's annual TB surveillance report has been released today. The report found that there has been a decrease in the number of TB cases in the UK between 2009 and 2010, from 8,917 to 8,483 - a decrease of 4.9 per cent. However, 1 in 20 TB patients were found to fail to complete their treatment, which increases the risk of drug-resistance.

Although significant improvements have been made to increase the number of patients completing their treatment, with initiatives such as the ‘Find and Treat’ service in London, the fact that 5 per cent of patients still do not finish their medication is concerning.

TB is curable with a six month course of antibiotics, but, if the full programme is not completed, the infection could remain and possibly develop resistance to the antibiotics used to treat it. Patients that don’t conclude their medication also pose a risk of infecting other people, particularly close family contacts.

Dr Ibrahim Abubakar, head of TB Surveillance at the HPA said: “We remain very concerned that five per cent of TB patients don’t fully complete their treatment. Patients who do not finish the full six month course of treatment risk developing a drug-resistant form of TB infection that is much more difficult to treat successfully.”

Dr Ibrahim also comments on the decrease in new TB cases being reported: “While the decline we are seeing in the incidence of tuberculosis after nearly two decades of increasing rates is encouraging, we’ll need to assess the trends over the next few years to see whether this is a true reversal.”

Read the full report here...

id: 07/12/11HPA

(01/12/11) TB Management and Control Course

Birmingham and Midland Institute
Margaret Street
Birmingham
B3 3BS
Registration at 13:30 on wednesday 9th of May

Organised by BCC Training, the course spreads over two days and is split into a mixture of lectures and workshops.

The course aims to provide a comprehensive update to participants on the clinical management of TB cases and incidents, assess new diagnostic techniques available for TB, and gain an understanding of TB epidemiology and TB services in the UK.

It will be of interest to all doctors including consultants, specialist registrars in respiratory medicine or infectious diseases, general practitioners, public health physicians, TB nurses and other non-medical health professionals working in TB.

Topics include: Anti-tuberculosis treatment, natural history of tuberculosis infection, public health and TB, TB and HIV infection, control pf TB infection in hospitals and clinical diagnostic problems.

The course speakers include:Miss Debbie Crisp, Dr. Martin Dedicoat, Dr. Philip Monk, Dr. Grace Smith, Dr. Prith Venkastan and Dr. John Innes.

View the full programme here

Contact Mrs Mary Mannion for general enquiries about the course and to book a place:
E: mary.mannion@heartofengland.nhs.uk
t: 0121 424 2357

id: 01/12/11TBBirmingham

(01/12/11) HPA Conference

4-6th July 2012
Imperial College London (Sherfield Building)
South Kensington Campus
Exhibition Road
London SW7 2AZ

For the first time in its history the European Region of the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union) has chosen to hold its
meeting in western rather than eastern Europe. The 3 day conference will focus on approaches to the control of tuberculosis and other respiratory
diseases, as well as a wide range of other important issues, including lung disease caused by tobacco, child respiratory disease – and the contribution to
the problem by pollution.
The conference is designed for doctors including consultants, specialist registrars in respiratory medicine or infectious diseases, general practitioners, public health physicians, TB nurses and other non-medical health professionals working in TB.
The HPA encourage participants to submit an abstract and take part in what should be a milestone respiratory conference.

Read the full flier here...

For further information on this conference,
abstract submission and to book your place visit:
www.hpa-events.org.uk/TheUnion

Closing date for abstract submissions – 31 January 2012

id: 01/12/11HPA

(23/11/11) New TB training curriculum

The curriculum, a collaborative effort of PATH, WHO STOP TB Partnership and USAID, is designed to provide country-level staff with the specific knowledge and skills to plan, implement, and evaluate effective ACSM interventions linked to specific TB control objectives. The structure and methodologies proposed by PATH were approved by the Stop TB Partnership ACSM Country Level Core Group members for global use. The original version of the curriculum was significantly refined and modified in response to partners’ comments and to meet participants’ needs.

Read the full curriculum here...
id: 23/11/11STOPTB

(21/11/11) COTHAZ newsletter launch

The first edition of the COTHAZ newsletter reports on the impressive work the project partners have undertaken so far to raise community awareness about TB and TB-HIV co-infection.
Read the full newsletter here...
id: 21/11/11COTHAZ

(16/11/11) TB Symposium

The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
Keppel Street
London
WC1E 7HT
Wednesday 15th February 2012

Organised by the LSHTM, the conference explores the theory suggested by Mario Raviglione, Director of the Stop TB Department, that better tuberculosis control required investment not only in diagnostics, treatment, and health systems but also in development initiatives addressing the social determinants of tuberculosis.

The one day seminar will be of interest to all doctors including consultants, specialist registrars in respiratory medicine or infectious diseases, general practitioners, public health physicians, TB nurses and other non-medical health professionals working in TB.

View the full flier here...

Contact Alexandra Miller to book your a place
E: alexandra.miller@Ishtm.ac.uk

id: 16/11/11LSHTM

(02/11/11) Kochon Foundation announce 2011 winners

The winners of the Kochon prize were announced at the opening ceremony of the World Conference of the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease in Lille last week. Joint winner Professor Alimuddin Zumla, a founding member of TB Alert, is internationally renowned for his leadership in TB and TB/HIV and for establishing north-south partnerships for TB research. In addition, Professor Zumla heads several multi-research projects, where his team's findings have contributed to the development of WHO's management guidelines on treatment and prevention of TB and TB/HIV and have led to improvements in patient care worldwide.

Fellow recipient INF has been working on TB in Nepal since 1973 and in 1985 became the regional counterpart to the National Tuberculosis Programme, taking charge of implementing TB control activities in all 15 districts of Nepal’s mid-western region. As well as providing basic TB services, INF trains staff from health facilities, government programmes and partner NGO’s on how to develop the quality of TB care.

As joint winners of the Kochon prize, Professor Zimla and the INF will both receive the Kochon medal and share a prize of US$65,000. Read the full article here...

id: 02/11/11Kochon

(12/10/11) In loving memory of Winstone Zulu

TB Alert is saddened to hear of the passing of Winstone Zulu, a prominent TB-HIV advocate and former TB Alert representative, who died on 12th October at University Teaching Hospital in Lusaka. Winstone was TB Alert’s representative in Zambia between 2005 and 2008.

He was notable not only for being the first high profile professional person in Zambia to go public about his HIV, but for seeing that it is TB that is killing people living with HIV in Africa. For the past 7-8 years Winstone focused his energy on TB advocacy. His ideas form the basis of TB Alert’s DfID funded COTHAZ project, a three year project in Zambia which aims to improve community awareness about TB and TB-HIV co-infection and increase advocacy at local and national levels. Winstone was also an ambassador at international events for the Stop TB Partnership, at which he made many international leaders aware of the impact of TB.

Three of Winstone’s brothers died of TB. He was ill with TB himself at one stage, but he was cured by having foreign friends who were able to get TB drugs into Lusaka for him at a time when TB drug supply to the Zambian NTP was in dire straits. TB Alert continues to advocate for stable supply routes for TB medication in Africa.

TB Alert’s Chair, Paul Sommerfeld, worked closely with Winstone and recalls: “He was a warm personality who did much to make the world aware of the dual pandemic of TB and HIV. I and many others will miss him both as a campaigner and as a human being we enjoyed working with.”

Melanie Matthews, TB Alert’s former Development Director, also worked closely with Winstone. Melanie was moved to share her own recollections with TB Alert:

“Winstone Zulu did wonderful work as an ambassador and advocate, but I remember him as a special person who charmed and touched the hearts of everyone he met.

Personally I found him a real inspiration – having lived through polio, HIV and TB, Winstone could easily have felt sorry for himself, but more often he focused on how lucky he was to be alive, and to have the family, friends and experiences he did. I remember so clearly one day him telling me that at the age of 42 (as he was then) he had already passed the life expectancy for his country at the time, and that every day after that was a precious gift.

I have extremely fond memories of his trip to Brighton to visit TB Alert – accompanying him to London, Guernsey and Swindon to meet donors and attend events. I came to learn how inaccessible the UK is for people with a disability (Winstone used crutches, and a wheelchair for longer distances), and while I frequently got angry with unhelpful transport staff, Winstone stayed patient and kept smiling. One evening while I was cooking dinner, I heard a shout, and Winstone was staring at his computer – he had received a message that in his absence his house had burnt down (his family were safe). Most people would have cancelled the trip there and then, but after talking to his family and ensuring they were OK, he decided he wanted to stay – he didn’t want to let anyone down, and he didn’t want to miss any opportunity to get his message about TB and HIV across.

Winstone was a beautiful person and the world is a much poorer place without him. I feel privileged to have called him my friend.”

All the staff at TB Alert would like to express our deepest sympathy to his family and our gratitude for Winstone’s life and work.

id: 12.10.11Winstone

(11/10/11) WHO warns over lack of TB funds

New data published by WHO has reported the number of people falling ill from TB is now declining each year for the first time, with significant progress made in countries such as China, Brazil and Tanzania. WHO published the groundbreaking new statistics in the 2011 Global Tuberculosis Control Report, which also highlighted the number of people dying from tuberculosis as being at its lowest level in a decade. However, alongside these positive new reports, WHO also highlights fresh concerns over lack of funds predicted for 2012 which could threaten further progress, especially in combating multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB_.

In a statement, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said “fewer people are dying of tuberculosis, and fewer are falling ill. This is cause for celebration. But it is no cause for complacency. Too many millions still develop TB each year, and too many die. I urge serious and sustained support for the Stop TB Partnership in the years to come. "

The data reports that treating MDR-TB remains one of the most under-funded areas, with just 16% of the estimated numbers of MDR-TB patients treated in 2010. Of the predicted US$1 billion gap in funding for 2012, US$200 million is for the MDR-TB response.

WHO’s Director-General, Dr Margaret Chan said "In many countries, strong leadership and domestic financing, with robust donor support, has started to make a real difference in the fight against TB.

"The challenge now is to build on that commitment, to increase the global effort - and to pay particular attention to the growing threat of multidrug-resistant TB."

Read more here...

Download the full report here...
id: 12/10/11WHO

(11/10/11) 'First ever' decline in TB cases

According to new figures from WHO, the global numbers of TB cases and the TB death toll have fallen to their lowest level in a decade, with significant progress made in Brazil, China, Kenya and Tanzania.

Despite this milestone, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki- Moon said this was not a “cause for complacency”. In a statement he said, "too many millions still develop TB each year, and too many die. I urge serious and sustained support for TB prevention and care, especially for the world's poorest and most vulnerable people".

WHO also warned that as money is the key to the current progress, particularly domestic funding in larger countries like Brazil, a predicted lack of funds for 2012 could threaten further developments. Read the full article here...
id: 11/10/11WHO

(05/10/11) TB in smokers death toll 'could reach 40m'

Nearly 40 million smokers could die of TB by 2050, the BBC reports. New research from the British Medical Journal suggests that smokers are twice as likely to catch TB and die from it, compared with non-smokers.

Projections made by BMJ indicate that many of the new TB cases will be in Africa, the eastern Mediterranean and Southwest Asian regions. There are also suggestions that the global efforts to fight TB are being damaged by the tobacco industry’s heavy promotion of smoking in some places.

Dr John Moore-Gillon, a TB specialist and honorary medical advisor for the British Lung Foundation, says, "concerted international efforts are now under way to try and turn the tide of TB". However, he adds "all these efforts may be undermined by the tobacco industry’s aggressive promotion of smoking in many parts of the world."

Nearly a fifth of people in the world are smokers; many in countries with high rates of TB where multi-national tobacco companies have expanded their markets.

Smoking is a known risk factor for TB, and weakens the lungs’ ability to fight the infection. Dr Sanjay Basu from the University of California, whose team’s research predicts the impact of smoking on future TB rates adds, "aggressive tobacco control could avert millions of deaths from tuberculosis." Read the full article here...

id: 05/10/11BMJ

(19/09/11) NICE Survey

NICE has developed a survey to help establish new guidance on the identification and management of TB among hard to reach groups, with the findings being used to refine the final direction taken. This online survey aims to offer professionals and practitioners in the field the opportunity to comment on the proposed guidance.

There are 15 draft recommendations in the guidance survey, including proposals for rapid access TB services, finding active TB among people in prison or immigration removal centres and accommodation during treatment. Each page of the survey contains the text of a recommendation, together with a series of questions. We estimate that the whole questionnaire takes about 20 minutes to complete, and will be available online until 3 October 2011. Access the survey here...

id: 19/09/11NICE

(19/09/11) Key opportunities missed in school girl's TB death

In 2009, Alina Sarag was treated for TB with antibiotics; however the clinic failed to follow up on her treatment. When Alina fell ill again after a trip to Pakistan in July 2010, doctors missed several opportunities to diagnose her with TB. “We took her to every hospital” Alina’s mother says."If Heartlands Hospital didn't pick up something, maybe City Hospital would. We took her to the Children's Hospital. We thought maybe another doctor would find out what was wrong, but we were failed at every turn."

After doctors did not detect TB, Alina was admitted to Sandwell Hospital where she stayed for five days. TB was picked up [TB Alert: we assume this means from a skin test, which does not give a definitive result] but no sputum test was given, and a chest X-ray was thought to have found a chest infection. She later had two appointments made with a clinical psychologist, the second which was arranged for January 6th, the day she died.

Clinicians who were involved in Alina’s case are said to be devastated by her death, but insist, "other than the need to bear TB in mind, there is nothing in our systems that we felt that we needed to improve on the basis of Alina's care."

Heart of England NHS foundation trust (HEFT) which runs the chest clinic has said an action plan is to be put in place to prevent any further cases like Alina’s. It said: "We have completed an internal investigation into the care provided to Alina Sarag by Birmingham Chest Clinic and an action plan has been developed with our clinicians." Read the full article here...

id: 19/09/11BBC

(16/09/11) Join our Finance and Administration team

TB Alert is seeking an experienced Finance and Administration Officer
to join our team fighting TB in the UK and overseas.

TB Alert has grown considerably over the last three years and we have ambitious plans for the future. With funding from the Department of Health and Department for International Development, as well as an increasing number of individual, trust and corporate donors, we play a leading role in the international fight against a disease which continues to claim the lives of over 1.7 million people a year.

This post provides the day-to-day financial and administrative underpinning for the organisation’s work. It will suit a person with the skills, interests and flexibility to work across finance, IT, administration and office management. The role involves working closely with the Chief Executive, the fundraising team, and the UK and overseas programme teams. The successful candidate will have a specific interest in working in the voluntary sector and being part of a close-knit and enthusiastic team.

We are seeking a person motivated to make the job function and organisation constantly more effective and efficient, and there is scope for the right candidate to increase the responsibilities of the role over time. The postholder manages and is assisted by a part-time (20 hours per week) Administrative Assistant and a team of volunteers.

This post is part-funded by the Department of Health and the postholder has additional responsibilities as part of the team raising awareness of TB in England.

The application deadline is 11.59pm on Wednesday 28th September
Interviews will be held in Brighton on Friday 14th October.

Download the Job Description (Word)
Download the Job Description (PDF)

Download the Person Specification (Word)
Download the Person Specification (PDF)

id: 16.09.11FinAdmin

(14/09/11) WHO in Europe's action plan on MDR-TB

Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) is spreading at an alarming rate, especially in Europe. The nine countries with the world's highest rates of TB drug resistance are in the World Health Organization's European Region. A man-made phenomenon, drug-resistant TB is more expensive and difficult to treat than drug-susceptible TB. Today in some places in the region, four out of ten newly diagnosed patients have MDR-TB. If MDR-TB and XDR-TB are left to proliferate in the Eastern part of the continent, the threat to public health in Western European countries will intensify.

Infectious diseases such as tuberculosis know no borders and TB is a particular threat to the most vulnerable people, such as those affected by other illnesses that weaken their immune status. The UK, which has a rising toll of TB, needs to be especially vigilant about MDR-TB and address it more vigorously as London is the TB capital of Europe.

European ministers from 53 countries are set to endorse a new action plan to address MDR-TB the week of 12-15 September 2011 at the WHO Regional Committee for Europe in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Read more facts about MDR-TB and the WHO action plan here...

Read the full WHO action plan here...

id: 14/09/11WHO

(24/08/11) TBEC visits Latvia

TBEC is an informal advocacy coalition dedicated to raising awareness of TB, and to increasing the political will to control the disease throughout the WHO Europe Region and worldwide.

As a member of TBEC, TB Alert was provided with a substantial grant last year, to help make visits to Eastern European countries to identify, meet and involve civil society activists, and then to pay for activists to join in advocacy activities aimed at EU institutions. This is to encourage the European Commission to allow more funds to be directed to TB research in developing countries and TB action in Europe. In addition, it aims to press governments of Eastern Europe and Central Asia to recognise the importance of civil society contributions to TB awareness, detection, and treatment compliance.

TBEC’s visit to Latvia last month brought together group members from around Europe to mainly focus on the worrying increase of XDR TB and childhood TB in Latvia. In order to tackle these rises, various recommendations were made, including developing a stronger focus on prevention and community support. Read the full article here...

id: 24/08/11TBEC

(17/08/11) BBC News - Councillor shares her TB story

Now completely recovered from bovine TB, Elizabeth Yeomans tells the BBC that being diagnosed with the illness “takes some believing” and that she “didn't know that you could have what is called latent TB, which is TB lying dormant in your body, through having unpasteurised milk." She also adds that some people found her illness ‘weird’ and encouraged her to stay quiet about it. Read the full article here...

Elizabeth Yeomans is donating proceeds of her book Life Beyond TB, to TB Alert.

You can order your copy from:

YouCaxton
0845 686 2665
www.youcaxton.co.uk

id: 17/08/11Yeomans

(17/08/11) BBC TB Documentary

This special edition of The Health Show follows the nurses who closely monitor their TB patients in Southern Africa, a new machine which can cut diagnosis from weeks to hours and the first totally new anti-TB drug in fifty years. The drug, called TMC 207, employs a mode of action to kill the TB bacteria, by targeting an energy-producing enzyme. It is the first drug to be able to do this. Watch the full programme here...
id: 17/08/11BBC

(09/08/11) Alan's Great Challenge

As a relatively new arrival at TB Alert, Alan was due to attend the Skydive Challenge fundraising event as an observer. However, “they had a spare place which needed filling,” he adds, and “the inevitable question followed: ‘Alan, will you do it?’” Though Alan admits he initially wondered what he had got himself into, friends have since told him how brave he is and he’s determined to face the challenge head on! “The butterflies are still there but slightly more in eager anticipation than terror!” he adds. “I will be raising funds for TB Alert, and helping to save lives and relieve suffering of thousands of people from a dreadful disease which kills over 1.7 million people a year around the world.”

Read more about 'Alan's Great Challenge' and find out how to sponsor him here...

id: 09/08/11Skydive

(26/07/11) WHO warning on the use of TB blood tests

Research by WHO have concluded that currently available commercial blood (serological) tests produce an unacceptable level of misdiagnosis. This new warning comes after 12 months of thorough analysis of evidence by WHO.

Testing for active TB through antibodies or antigens found in the blood is very difficult, with patients having different antibody responses suggesting they have TB even when they don’t. This is one of a number of factors which can result in TB not being recognised or misdiagnosed.

The molecular and microbiological tests recommended by WHO to replace current blood tests are now available in 17 of the 22 countries with the highest burden of TB.

This announcement has prompted a lively debate in the TB community.

Read the full WHO press release...
id: 26/07/11WHO

(19/07/11) New Patient Support Community

TB Alert and HealthUnlocked are delighted to launch a new web resource to connect people affected by TB in the UK. Here they can help learn from each other, share and express opinions and support one another. TB Alert is looking for pioneer volunteer bloggers to write about their experiences with TB, whether they are positive or negative, which people can relate to.

As a contributing blogger on our site, you can express your opinions on a variety of different aspects of the TB journey in short, informal blogs. You could write about initial TB diagnosis, hospital treatment, counselling and general aftercare. Or you could write about how TB has affected your family and friends, and your day to day life in general. Through your comments you could offer words of support and guidance, sometimes disagreement, or ideas on what you could try to alter a particular situation or feeling. You can read and comment on other people’s blogs too.

As a blogger, you could also provide valuable information to shape The Truth About TB programme, which aims to ensure that the patient voice is heard and acted upon by TB policy makers and service providers in the NHS, local authorities and the third sector. This new site gives you the opportunity to share your insights in a safe and secure forum.

If you are interested in becoming a blogger for TB Alert,
email:commsvolunteer@tbalert.org

Read more about TB Alert’s HealthUnlocked site here...

id: 19/07/11HU

(05/06/11) Brent Community Photography Project

Come into my life: photo exhibition

Harlesden Library
Craven Park Road, Harlesden

Daily between 4-18th July

ARCHIVE is a leading UK charity whose goal is to improve health through targeted housing design improvements. The community photography project is a joint celebration of the everyday lives of Asian women in Brent and an awareness campaign about the relationship between housing, health and TB.

View the full article here...

id: 04/07/11Brent

(16/06/11) Support our UK awareness work

TB Alert's UK Awareness Team works to build partnerships involving Primary Care Trust, Local Authorities, third sector organisations and communities at risk of TB, on TB awareness and support services at local level.

This opportunity involves supporting TB Alert’s Community Development Officer in the development of these partnerships, alongside other daily tasks. This is a unique chance to develop new skills, meet new people and be fully involved in TB Alert’s UK programme of work.

This role is for 6 - 12 months (full-time and part-time will be considered, but with a minimum of two days/week).

Download the internship description
id: 08/06/11Intern

(15/06/11) Thorax article on TB screening for people living with HIV

The study, High Prevalence of Subclinical Tuberculosis in HIV-1 Infected Persons Without Advanced Immunodeficiency: Implications for TB screening, from the Institute of Infectious Diseases and Molecular Medicine at the University of Cape Town, found a high prevalence but good outcome of subclinical TB in HIV-1-infected persons.

The report concludes that in high HIV/TB endemic settings, a positive HIV-1 test should prompt TB screening by sputum culture irrespective of symptoms, particularly in those with a positive tuberculin skin test, longer history of HIV infection and low CD4 count. Operational difficulties in resource-constrained settings with respect to screening with TB culture highlight the need for rapid and affordable point-of-care tests to identify persons with clinical and subclinical TB disease. Read the full report...

id: 15/06/11Thorax

(15/06/11) BBC Asian Network health month interviews

People of south Asian heritage are disproportionately affected by TB in the UK, accounting for 40% of all cases. This prompted the BBC Asian Network to include TB in their recent health month. TB Alert media advocates, Bhumika Shah and Shyama Perera, were featured describing their individual experiences with TB, and why it is so important to raise awareness about the illness.

Shyama Perera attributes the delay in her being diagnosed with TB to being a well-read and educated woman. Shyama, a freelance journalist and broadcaster, explained to the Asian Network, 'Because I was articulate about my symptoms and put them down to being menopausal, and because I could also talk to the doctor about the theatre and what was going on in the papers, he assumed I had a certain level of knowledge about my own physical state when actually I had no idea.'

Shyama first visited the doctor when painful bruises began to appear on her legs. Presuming they were due to the menopause, it was not considered for many years that they may be a symptom of TB. Shyama reflected, 'I would say to anyone who gets very strange markings on their legs that turn hot, to go and see your doctor...'.

She also comments on the stigma still attached to TB, 'If you are south Asian, TB is associated with lots of people living in one tiny space, and is a disease of poverty. TB represents all the things we don't like to talk about'.

Speaking about her own experience with tuberculosis, Bhumika Shah expresses the importance of educating people about TB, ‘Awareness-raising has to be a two way process. On one side increasing awareness within communities so people are aware of the symptoms and that they can go and present them to a doctor. On the other side medical professionals have to be armed with the right information and need to be knowledgeable about TB in their local community, so they think TB and make fast and appropriate referrals for TB testing'.

Listen to the first interview...

Listen to the second interview...

id: 15/06/11BBC

(14/06/11) DFID report - Towards zero infections

DFID's new position paper on tackling HIV, Towards zero infections: The UK’s position paper on HIV in the developing world, outlines the strategies and priorities that demonstrate the UK Government's commitment to achieving universal access to treatment for HIV and TB by 2015.

The report highlights the huge progress made against the HIV epidemic since AIDS was first identified 30 years ago; and sets out the risks and challenges that are to be faced in the next 20 years to control and treat HIV, both in the UK and developing world.

TB is identified as the leading cause of death for people living with HIV, with estimates of one in four deaths being TB related. Despite this, the report finds there is a lack of TB activities in many national strategic plans for HIV, and also in grant applications made to the Global Fund to Fight Aids.

The report outlines the UK Government's commitment to action on stigma and discrimination of TB and to create awareness of the TB-HIV link, with a proposal of a step-by-step change in TB prevention, through a rights based approach, based on 'know your epidemic and response'. DFID also report on plans to work towards the reduction in cost of TB treatment, and aims to increase access to TB diagnosis, treatment care and support, including early infant diagnosis. Read the full report...

id: 14/06/11DFID

(01/06/11) Genus in The Gambia

After several cigarettes, a few half hearted stretches and a bit of dressing room banter, Team Genus was ready to step out onto the pitch. The stadium was packed (all four seats were filled) and several passers by had stopped, amused at the sight of 11 sweaty Brits running around puffing and swearing.

Enter Kombo Beach XI, a confident display of 11 young men, whose very presence sent a wave of panic (and a few tears) through Team Genus.

The referee blew his whistle and the game began. Team Genus, though thoroughly overwhelmed by their Gambian counterparts played on - meaning they ran around, occasionally near the ball!

No matter how hard they tried the net remained virginal and unsullied, mainly due to some resolute defending from Bobby (if I can catch him I will kick him), Mark (oh sorry I did catch him and kicked him), Kevin (legs like Bambi) and their illustrious captain Jazz (Oh heck, I am the best player we got and I am a goalkeeper playing centre back).

Finally, the inevitable happened and the Genus goal was breached, much to the relief of Kombo Beach who were getting just a little bemused at how they could not score.

Half time and a well needed and deserved cigarette and a drink of water, and then another cigarette...

The second half started brightly for Kombo Beach as Genus tried to catch their breath (serves them right for smoking). The Genus front 2 of Big John and Big Paul contributed manfully to the cause and what they lacked in speed they made up for in guile and girth. Alas, the Gambians conjured a move from midfield and rightfully scored their second goal.

Kombo Beach 2 v 0 Genus All Stars.

At this point Jazz attempted to change tactics by adapting a ‘more free’ positional role. This was greatly cheered by the rest of the team as they had already adopted the ‘zonal’ strategy of sitting down where they were.

As Genus started to apply some pressure, a back pass to the Kombo keeper was mistakenly picked up and an indirect free kick was awarded to Genus inside the Kombo penalty area. Jazz stepped up and blasted the ball to ricochet in off a Kombo player only for the referee to disallow. After some remonstrations and a bit of sulking, the free kick was retaken and this time Jazz had the ball tapped to him and he duly planted it in the back of the net.

Kombo Beach 2 v 1 Genus All Stars.

Somewhat shaken, Kombo lost a little faith and within 10 minutes Genus were on even terms with Jazz getting his second, mainly due to the fact that he by now was the only player still running for Genus.

Kombo Beach 2 v 2 Genus All Stars.

Dare we believe to dream...? Would this rank amongst one of the all time great victory’s for the underdogs...

Simply, No!

With just 5 minutes remaining, Kombo Beach collected the ball mid-way through their own half. With some slick interplay, they proceeded to beat 4 or 5 Genus players. With the Genus goal gaping before him, the young Gambian coolly slotted the ball past “The Cat” to score the winning goal and what a wonderful goal it was. Wearily Genus hauled themselves back up, but were unable to breach the Gambian goal.

Final Score: Kombo Beach 3 v 2 Genus All Stars.

View the full photo album...
id: 01/06/11Gambia

(07/04/11) Your chance to get involved in a TB documentary

Rise Films are developing a documentary about TB for BBC 3. They would like to talk to people who have been affected by TB, particularly young people, who can share their experiences – you may even end up in the film!

The film will ask the question - why is London the TB capital of Europe when it is such a developed city? And why is it still on the rise when developing countries are managing to tackle the illness?

The project is in the early stages of development, researching people who we would like to be involved. Ideally the film will be about a teenager/young adult who has either suffered from TB, is suffering from TB or who has a parent who has/had the illness.

We will take this person on a journey, exploring how the illness affects a person, how it spreads and what is being done to prevent it in the UK. This person will then be taken on a global journey, visiting countries who have come up with revolutionary and cost effective ways of detecting and curing TB.

RISE would like to talk with teenagers and young adults (up to the age of 25) who have been affected or who have had parents who have been affected by TB, ideally from the East London region (Newham is the TB capital of Europe so would work well for the documentary). However we welcome all those who are interested in being involved.

Please contact Victoria on 07791111767 or victoriamusguin@hotmail.co.uk (email is best during the day and phone in the evenings.)

The deadline is tight, RISE will have to meet with those who are interested in being involved or sharing their experiences before the 20th of April.

id: 07.04.11RISE

(05/03/11) The Independent - I was a medical mystery

For months, fitness trainer Imla Hazaiah struggled with a crippling illness. Doctors diagnosed flu – then terminal cancer. But the reality was something much rarer.

‘For eight months, they kept testing me. My motor skills went, my memory became patchy. I'm still getting flashbacks, five years later. My face was gaunt and my skin had gone grey. I was using a walking stick to get around.’

Imla’s GP told him he had flu. On his third visit, with a different doctor, Imla was admitted to hospital and tested for everything from cancer to TB to AIDs. However a diagnosis remained elusive and Imla’s health continued to have a negative impact on his life and work.

Eight months after first visiting a doctor, Imla was thought to have lymphatic cancer. Though after surgery to remove his lymph nodes the doctors realised it wasn't cancer after all.

Imla was diagnosed with lymph node TB, a rare form of the illness, and prescribed 22 antibiotics a day. After eight months his treatment was complete.

‘The doctors said they couldn't believe it: I was well again. It was a huge relief. I started to relax in my mind, and allowed myself to remember what I'd been through.

‘I'm still teaching and training. I'm still doing the things that I was doing before. And I've been doing a lot more for TB Alert, too. Going to work has become more important – but at the same time, it's not about the money. Everything in my life has become about the amount of joy that I feel each day, about trying to have as much fun as I can.’ Read the full article...

id: 05.04.11Imla

(17/03/11) TB Alert job vacancy: Trusts and Foundations Officer

Join the UK’s national tuberculosis charity as our first dedicated Trusts and Foundations Officer and help expand our work in UK & overseas.

TB Alert is the only specialist British charity working both in the UK and internationally to fight tuberculosis. Our mission is to work towards the control and ultimate eradication of TB by increasing access to effective treatment for all.

We have ambitious plans to grow our work in the UK and internationally, so intend to widen the scope of our fundraising to underpin this growth. Having resourced our work in recent years through a broad range of fundraising activities and statutory funding, TB Alert now plans to significantly increase the support we receive from grant-making trusts and foundations. We are therefore seeking a target-driven fundraiser who specialises in trusts and foundations, but also has the interest and skills to support the other fundraising work of our small team.

You will be based at TB Alert’s head office in Brighton.

Job purpose:

• Manage and expand the support from our current portfolio of trusts and foundations
• Research and build relationships and support from a wide range of additional trusts and foundations, their administrators and Trustees
• Support the team to maximise our other funding and fundraising channels

Download job description (includes application procedure)

Download person specification

Closing date: Sunday 10th April 2011

id: 17.03.11TFO

(31/01/11) New Year Honour - Dr Ian Campbell

Congratulations to Dr Ian Campbell, who received an OBE in the New Year Honours list for services to medicine. Dr Campbell has a long and illustrious career, during which he has contributed much to the management of tuberculosis and other mycobacterial illnesses.

Soon after beginning his career, Dr Campbell OBE took up a Clinical Trials Research Fellowship at Edinburgh University, under Sir John Crofton. At Edinburgh he ran multi-centre clinical trials including the first UK-based trial demonstrating the effectiveness of short-course chemotherapy in the treatment of TB.

Dr Campbell also spent many years at the forefront of the British Thoracic Society: as Chairman of the BTS Research Committee; Chairman of the Joint TB Research Committee; and Chairman of the Tobacco Committee; before becoming President of the BTS in 2003.

Dr Campbell recently retired from the Cardiff and Vale NHS Trust, where he had worked for 32 years as Consultant Respiratory Physician, during which time he undertook pioneering trials on smoking cessation.

Dr Campbell remains keenly involved in the BTS and the work of the Britain Nepal Trust.

Whilst being interviewed Dr Campbell confessed to being very surprised to receive the honour, and modestly attributed a proportion of his award to his close colleagues of 25 years, Elizabeth Lyons and Sonia Edwards.

This honour is a great tribute to Dr Campbell and important recognition of the work that has been done to improve the management of mycobacterial illnesses and smoking cessation.

id: 31/01/11Honours

(24/01/11) BBC Health - TB vaccine protects before and after exposure

A new vaccine that can fight tuberculosis (TB) before and after infection has been developed by Danish scientists. It could offer protection for many years more than is now possible.

The latest vaccine, so far tested in animals, is featured in the journal Nature Medicine.

Current vaccines, such as the BCG vaccine, work only if given before exposure to the bacterium. They do not prevent infection, but do prevent acute symptoms and disease from emerging.

But once the bacterium has changed its chemical signature, into its latent form, it is effectively immune to the vaccine and can bide its time, reactivating after the vaccine has ceased to have a preventative effect.

If successful in human trials, the new vaccine would be able to tackle that problem.

'Major breakthrough'

Developed by a team at the Statens Serum Institute in Copenhagen, it combines proteins that trigger an immune response to both the active and latent forms of Mycobacterium.

Researcher Professor Peter Lawætz Andersen said: "It might be possible to give a booster jab post-exposure to older children or even young adults which would protect them well into adulthood."

Although TB can be treated with antibiotics, those drugs are often not easily accessible in the developing world, where the new vaccine could have the greatest benefit.

Professor Andersen said: "In these areas you cannot go in and treat more than half the local population. For instance, in Capetown 60% of people are thought to be infected."

Professor Peter Davies, secretary of the group TB Alert, said: "A vaccine which can both protect against initial infection and protect from a breakdown of infection into disease is a major breakthrough.

"One of the main disadvantages of BCG was that it could only prevent infection going on to disease in the initially uninfected individual. It was therefore of no use in protecting infected adults who would become an infectious source of disease. Protecting children, though of value, does not protect against transmission, as children with active disease do not usually transmit disease.

"So far so good but we must remember that mice are not men (or women)."

Professor Francis Drobniewski, Director of the Health Protection Agency's National Mycobacterium Reference Laboratory said: "This is an exciting and thoughtful piece of research. The existing BCG vaccine is cheap, safe, widely used but of limited efficacy.

"With over nine million new TB cases globally each year and increasing levels of drug resistance new diagnostics, drugs and especially effective vaccines are desperately needed."

id: 24.01.11BBC

(14/01/11) Reuters - Latent TB treatment a greater risk to older adults

Analysis of government health records, for 9,145 residents from Quebec that were treated for latent TB, showed that 45 ended up being hospitalised for liver damage - typically non-infectious hepatitis. Adults older than 65 accounted for 22 of those 45 hospitalizations.

Older adults treated for latent TB were, not surprisingly, in poorer overall health than the comparison group. But even when the researchers accounted for medical conditions like cancer, diabetes and kidney disease, those treated for latent TB were still six times more likely to be hospitalised for liver damage than untreated older adults.

The study concluded that older people diagnosed with latent TB should talk with their doctors about all the potential risks of treating, or not treating, it.

Read more...
id: 14.01.11Reuters

(14/01/11) Journal of Infectious Diseases - Impact of TB on maternal and child health

Although the increased TB risk experienced by immunocompromised individuals is generally recognised, the risk that TB may enhance HIV transmission and/or disease progression is less appreciated. The study, reported in The Journal of Infection Diseases, Volume 203, Issue 3, examines the contribution of maternal TB as a risk factor for mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) of HIV infection.

The study is set in the context of the changing epidemiology of TB in response to the global human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) epidemic, which has shifted the greatest burden of TB cases from men to women in countries where HIV prevalence is high.

TB and TB-HIV coinfection are associated with poor pregnancy outcomes, including intrauterine growth retardation, prematurity and fetal death, and infant and maternal disease and death.

Read more...
id: 14.01.11JID

(11/01/11) BBC News - Birmingham schoolgirl, 15, dies from tuberculosis

The Health Protection Agency has announced the death of 15-year-old Alina Sarag, from Birmingham, who died from tuberculosis (TB).

It has emerged Alina had begun treatment for TB and had been seen at Birmingham Chest Clinic in October 2009. It is understood she went to Pakistan before treatment had been completed, but came back to Birmingham afterwards.

Dr Jacky Chambers, of the Heart of Birmingham Primary Care Trust, said: "We are taking this death extremely seriously and we are going to go over all the facts and all the contact that this child has had in terms of the health care she has had in the months preceding her death.

"Once we are clear in terms of the history of the events that led to this death we may move to a more independent inquiry."

Read more...
id: 11.01.11BBC

(11/01/11) The Lancet - WHO recommends against inaccurate tuberculosis tests

Although no international guideline recommends their use, scores of commercial serology tests for tuberculosis are being sold in high-burden countries. Some are laboratory-based tests, whereas others are rapid dipstick tests, which could fill a vital niche for a point-of-care tuberculosis diagnostic test. “If they worked, the problem of a gap in the pipeline for a point-of-care assay would have been solved decades ago”, comments Madhukar Pai, co-chair of the STOP-TB Partnership's new diagnostics working group. “The pity is that they don't work. In fact, they're inaccurate and useless.”

WHO will be issuing policy advice against their use in early 2011. Read more...
id: 11.01.11WHOTest

(10/12/10) How radio can help save lives in Malawi

TB Alert have joined forces with JournAIDS - a team of skilled and committed journalists to broadcast
a series of radio programmes about TB which will help people recognize the symptoms of TB and encourage them to get tested and inform them how to get access to treatment.

The programmes will be broadcast by the Malawi Broadcasting Corporation, which reaches 6 million listeners. Radio is a very powerful medium in Malawi - almost 95% rely on radio more than any other means of communication.

14,000 people die from Tuberculosis in Malawi each year. Although TB is a curable disease, most people who contract TB never even get as far as seeing a doctor. One of the key problems is a lack of awareness. Many people simply don’t know the symptoms or that TB is curable. Many believe they do not have the money to pay for medicine – not knowing that TB treatment is FREE. If we can increase the detection rate by just 5% - we can help save 1000 lives.

If you would like to support our JournAIDS appeal, please call 01273 234784 or by email.

id: 10.12.10JOURNAIDS

(08/12/10) The Guardian - Two-hour TB test may revolutionise global treatment

A test that can detect TB, including drug-resistant forms, in less than two hours could revolutionise treatment of the disease, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

The current diagnostic test for TB has been used for 125 years and is far from ideal, because it does not easily detect strains that are resistant to antibiotics, or TB where the patient is co-infected with HIV.

Some patients have to wait as long as three months to be diagnosed, which means their treatment is delayed, the chance they will infect others is increased and drug resistance can worsen and spread if they are given the wrong antibiotics for the strain.

The number of recorded TB cases is set to rise as the test is rolled out. WHO says drug-resistant cases could increase threefold and the number of cases where the patient is co-infected with HIV could double.

The major issue will now be cost, though the makers, Cepheid, have agreed to cut the price by 75% for the poorest, worst-affected countries, and it will come down further as the test is more widely bought. However, at $16.86 per test, the cost is much higher than using the current system and extensive roll-out will depend on donor funding.

Donor organisations such as the US government's Pepfar and the Global Fund to fight Aids, TB and malaria have expressed an interest in helping. South Africa and India already have plans to introduce the test.

Read the full article here...
id: 08/12/10TBTest

(06/12/10) Royal Society of Medicine conference - The TB battle: Are we winning or losing?

The Respiratory Medicine Section at the Royal Society of Medicine is organising a one day conference: The TB battle: Are we winning or losing?

Wednesday 23 March 2011
09.30 - 17.00
Royal Society of Medicine, 1 Wimpole Street, London, W1G 0AE

The conference will:
• provide an up to date overview of TB in the UK
• examine the problem of TB in London, why it is increasing and how it can be best controlled
• identify new diagnostic methods and new drugs for treatment

The full programme and registration details are available online.

Early bird rates are available until Wednesday 23 February 2011.
Registration closes Friday 18 March 2011

Contact: Gemma Lamb, 020 7290 3856, respiratory@rsm.ac.uk

id: 01.12.10RSMTB

(01/12/10) Think TB on World AIDS Day

The past 20 years has seen a steady increase in cases of TB in the UK, with black African communities disproportionately affected. Between 20% and 30% of black Africans diagnosed with tuberculosis in the UK are also living with HIV.

TB is caused by an airborne bacteria, so anyone can be affected, though some people are more at risk than others. People with close ties to regions of the world where TB is more prevalent, and people whose immune systems have been weakened by HIV, are at particular risk.

This is why TB Alert and the African Health Policy Network are asking voluntary and community organisations to Think TB on World AIDS Day. Today marks the beginning of a joint programme of advocacy and awareness raising work around TB and TB-HIV co-infection that will culminate with a series of events on World TB Day, 24 March 2011. This site will be updated in the coming month with ideas and resources for you to hold your own events.

TB Alert has developed a fun animation in which the character, Teeby, shows the most common symptoms of TB. View it here. If you would like to use this on your own website, please contact Helen Clegg at TB Alert for details, helen.clegg@tbalert.org.

AHPN is now the African Health Policy Network, with a broader focus on all health determinants affecting African communities in the UK. TB disproportionately affects these communities, so AHPN is working with TB Alert and the AHPN membership to encourage African communities to talk about TB and TB-HIV co-infection. This reflects AHPN’s Public Faces project, which works to reduce HIV-related stigma in UK African communities through a variety of initiatives, including work with faith communities and Ffena, a network of inspiring African champions living with or affected by HIV. As part of this project AHPN is launching No Blame, No Shame, a new HIV health promotion film. The film tackles the issue of taboos and stigma surrounding HIV infection in the UK’s African community, and is available online at AHPN’s website: www.ahpn.org.

To find out more about TB and what it means for the communities you work with, visit The Truth About TB website from TB Alert: www.thetruthabouttb.org. Here you can find out everything you need to know about TB, from symptoms and risks, how TB and HIV interact, to treatment and keeping your loved ones safe - TB is curable and all treatment is free.

TB Alert and AHPN look forward together with the third sector on TB and HIV.

Mike Mandelbaum
Chief Executive, TB Alert

Francis Kaikumba
Chief Executive Officer, African Health Policy Network

id: 01.12.10WAD

(19/11/10) Health equality events for professionals

Colleagues across the TB field are invited to a number of events in the upcoming weeks, from some of our partners in the effort to address health inequality in the UK. Please click on the dates to see the event flyers:

Closing the gap: inequality in London, London Voluntary Service Council:
Tuesday 23 November, Clifford Chance, London E14 5J

Ensuring access to healthcare for vulnerable migrants in the age of austerity, Doctors of the World:
Wednesday 24 November, Red Cross, Birmingham
Saturday 27 November, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London

World Aids Day event, African Health Forum
Friday 26 November, All Saints Community Centre, London, SE145DJ

id: 19.11.10HealthEvents

(15/11/10) News from advocacy corner

TB Alert hosted a very successful workshop last week at the World Lung Health Conference in Berlin. An audience of over 80 delegates discussed how civil society can effectively work with governments in Africa to tackle TB and TB-HIV co-infection.

The half-day session included presentations from the World Health Organisation, and from government and civil society representatives from Kenya, South Africa and Burkina Faso.

This annual conference is the most important global gathering of the TB world, and during recent years TB Alert has become well known as the provider of the main ‘hub’ for civil society: at the request of the Stop TB Partnership we organise Advocacy Corner, an area in the main exhibition area where civil society organisations display their materials, hold discussion groups, and – crucially – talk to clinicians and scientists about how we can work together to beat TB.

Click here to see the flyer we distributed at the conference.
Click here to wacth a video of TB Alert's Global Advocacy officer, Belinda Atim, talking about advocacy corner

id: 15.11.10advocatescorner

(04/11/10) The Guardian - UK TB cases at a 30 year high

The Guardian reports on Health Protection Agency statistics that show there were 9,040 cases of TB in 2009 - the highest level in 30 years.

The number of drug-resistant infections showed a significant increase, having nearly doubled from 206 in 2000 to 389 in 2009. Multi-drug resistant TB has also increased, from 28 cases in 2000 to 58 in 2009.

Although it can be cured, TB can also kill. The Office for National Statistics said it was an underlying cause in 334 deaths in 2008.

"The key to reducing levels of TB is early diagnosis and appropriate treatment."
Dr Ibrahim Abubakar, head of TB surveillance at the HPA

London and The West Midlands were shown to be most affected - TB is thought to be more easily transmitted in urban areas, where there are also higher numbers of people who may have come from countries where the disease is endemic. Other people – including the homeless and people with HIV – are vulnerable to TB because of their impaired immune system.

“...[TB has] been rising for over 20 years now and no sign that it is stopping. It is being addressed as a narrow clinical issue and the public health aspects are not being tackled.

"Many people, including some doctors, are not sufficiently aware of the disease and it can take a long time to get diagnosed. TB Alert is working to improve public awareness through a website, called The Truth About TB, aimed at those who are most vulnerable to the disease.”
Mike Mandelbaum, chief executive of TB Alert

Read the full article, here.

id: 04/11/10TheGuardian

(04/11/10) BBC Health - Tuberculosis cases highest for nearly 30 years in UK

BBC Health report on Health Protection Agency figures that show that cases of tuberculosis in the UK are at their highest in 30 years.

Diagnoses have been rising almost continuously since the 1980s, with many of the new cases thought to be among people who caught the disease abroad.
Two thirds were among people born outside the UK, mostly in Africa and the Indian sub-continent.

The HPA said it was important that local health managers put steps in place to diagnose and treat the condition in the places with the biggest problems.

Dr Ibrahim Abubakar, head of TB surveillance at the HPA, said: "We are concerned. TB is a preventable and treatable condition, but if left untreated can be life-threatening."

Read the full article here.

id: 04/11/10BBCHealth

(02/11/10) Daily Mail - I thought it was the menopause, in fact I'd caught TB

Five years after beginning to experience symptoms; including tiredness, aching, hot sweats, and painful legs; journalist Shyama Perera was finally diagnosed with TB.

Though she was increasingly debilitated and unable to write, Shyama put her symptoms down to the menopause and was even reluctantly prescribed hormone replacement therapy (HRT) by her GP.

When Shyama discussed her symptoms with a new GP in the practice, the connections were finally made that led to a diagnosis of TB – the bruising on her shin was diagnosed as erythema nodosum, a painful inflammation that indicated her immune system was under attack.

Shyama was referred for a series of tests, including a lung and lymph biopsy, and received a diagnosis of TB four weeks later. Though relieved to finally have a diagnosis, and to know that she would be cured of TB after a six month course of treatment, Shyama was prompted to find out more about the illness and its impact, which she details in her full-article available here.

id: 02/11/10DailyMail

(19/10/10) Sadness at the passing of Lady Eileen Crofton

It is with sadness that we hear of the passing of Dr Eileen Crofton a medical doctor with an illustrious career in medical research, and the wife of our founder and Honorary President Sir John Crofton.

Eileen became a captain at the Royal Army Medical Corps in 1944 and met Sir John during a posting to Northern Ireland after the Second World War. They married soon after and had five children. The family moved to Edinburgh in 1952, where Sir John was appointed Professor of Respiratory Diseases at The University of Edinburgh.

Among many other highlights in her career, Eileen Crofton received the MBE in 1973 for her work on tobacco control. After retirement she became involved in women's issues and published a book celebrating the contribution of female medics in World War I.

Lady Eileen passed away in her beloved city of Edinburgh on 08 October 2010. TB Alerts’ staff and trustees would like to extend our heartfelt sympathy to her family, particularly as this comes so soon after Sir John's passing, and thank them for the support they have all given TB Alert over the years. She will be sadly missed.
id: 19.10.10LadyEileen

(13/10/10) Halting TB surge requires centralised commissioning, warn experts

Specialised commissioning for tuberculosis services should be introduced to reverse the increase in cases over the past 20 years, according to a report published today by TB Alert and Race for Health.
The recommendations follow a summit of 100 NHS leaders and senior figures in social care in June, which heard that, if current trends continue, TB cases in Britain will soon exceed those in the US, which has five times this country’s population.

The Race Against Tuberculosis report also calls for retraining of clinicians who fail to spot cases of TB. It recommends that most patients should receive Directly Observed Therapy (DOT) – where a health worker is present when people take their medication – to increase compliance and tackle drug resistant TB, which threatens to make treatment ineffective. The controversial measure was key to success in cutting rates in New York, where a TB epidemic threatened in the 1990s.

Mike Mandelbaum, Chief Executive of TB Alert, said:
‘TB is a crucial public health issue, and one that the UK has struggled to address successfully over recent decades. Most TB patients are not diagnosed as a result of visiting their local surgery, and GPs will not have the expertise to effectively commission TB services. That is why London’s TB commissioners recently called for TB services to be commissioned at a regional level, and this advice this should be reflected in all parts of the country.’ (CSL, 2010)

Today’s report, which will go to Andrew Lansley, Secretary of State for Health, warns that long-term underfunding for TB services must be tackled and says that London, which is in the World Health Organisation’s top incidence band for TB cases, should have centralised commissioning, which requires firm backing from Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London and London’s Director of Public Health.
The Summit which led to today’s report was a partnership between Race for Health, a DH-sponsored programme to improve health in BME communities, and TB Alert, the key partner of the DH in raising awareness about TB, and was supported by London TB Commissioning and the Department of Health.

Professor Helen Hally, National Director of Race for Health, said:
‘The incidence of tuberculosis in Britain and its steady increase over the last 20 years - with the impact experienced disproportionately by black and minority ethnic (BME) communities – is unacceptable. Tackling TB properly needs firm commitment to challenging race inequality. This report demonstrates how dealing with inequality can be the most cost effective way of improving health for everyone. This is a mainstream, not a side, issue.’

The Government has acknowledged that tuberculosis can be a costly public health and economic issue if not effectively managed (DH, 2007). The majority of new cases, in London and elsewhere, arise in socially and economically disadvantaged communities and those from newly arrived racial minorities. Over the past 20 years there has been a steady increase in new cases in the UK, with 9,153 provisionally reported in 2009, a 5.5% increase compared with 2008 (HPA, 2010); 72% of cases were non-UK-born people and 78% were from non-white ethnic groups (HPA, 2010).

Nick Relph, Chair of the London TB Commissioning and Chief Executive, Hounslow PCT, and a contributor to the report, said: ‘TB is curable, but a lack of awareness is preventing many people from accessing treatment. A joined-up approach between local stakeholders and a more focused approach by the NHS could dramatically reduce rates of the condition.’

To read the report, please click here.

Notes for Editors:
TB Alert is a recipient of a Third Sector Investment Partnership grant from the Department of Health for raising awareness about TB. In February 2010, TB Alert launched ‘The Truth About TB’ programme. The programme brings together PCTs, local government, the voluntary sector and communities affected with TB, to encourage and support a partnership approach to raising awareness locally: www.thetruthabouttb.org.

For more information contact: Helen Clegg Helen.clegg@tbalert.org 01273 234030, 07949 675033.

Race for Health, sponsored by the Department of Health, is at the cutting edge of good practice around race equality and health. TB is one of seven condition groups against which member PCTs measure their performance. www.raceforhealth.org.

For more information contact: Jack O’Sullivan jack@think-osullivan.com 07779 655585

References:
1. Department of Health (2007) Tuberculosis prevention and treatment: a toolkit for planning, commissioning and delivering high-quality services in England. London: Department of Health.
2. Health Protection Agency (2010) Tuberculosis Update, March 2010. London: Health Protection Agency and NHS London.
3. Commissioning Support for London (2010) London TB Service Review and Health Needs Assessment. London: Commissioning Support for London. (Calling for the establishment of a London TB Board of Control with full responsibility and accountability for the design, commissioning and delivery of TB services across the capital.)
topic
id: 13.10.10RATB

(08/10/10) Naz Project London faces closure

The recession is going to disproportionately affect people and communities who are already economically and socially disadvantaged. It will make people more vulnerable to ill health and make our fight against TB even more urgent. Charities we work with to reach communities affected by TB are already finding statutory and voluntary income more difficult to raise. This week we heard from our partners at Naz Project London (NPL), who have been providing sexual health services to Black and Minority Ethnic communities for 20 years, that they face closure unless they raise £75,000 by the end of October. At TB Alert we will face our own funding pressures, but we also need to do whatever we can to help NPL and our others partners secure their own futures. If you wish to donate to NPL please visit the Naz Project London Fundraising Page.

id: 08.10.10NAZ

(27/08/10) TB Alert Chief Executive to speak at TB 2010 symposium

TB Alert Chief Executive, Mike Mandelbaum, will be speaking about The Truth About TB programme, at the Tuberculosis 2010 symposium - new approaches for new challenges: at the Health Protection Agency Annual Conference, Warwick, 14-15 September 2010.

The symposium, which is aimed at microbiologists, epidemiologists, healthcare workers and public health specialists, will showcase recent progress in TB research and show how organisations are increasingly working together.

The Truth About TB programme, developed by TB Alert as the Department of health’s lead partner in raising awareness about TB, is building an important evidence base demonstrating the effectiveness of partnership work in addressing TB among high risk groups. The programme brings together the NHS, local authorities and voluntary sector organisations who already work with the communities most at risk from TB, to raise awareness about the illness, resulting in earlier presentation to primary health services and less onward transmission.

To read more about the event, see the conference flyer. Anyone wishing to book a place at the conference can do so on the Health Protection Agency's conference pages.

To find out more about The Truth About TB programme, visit: www.thetruthabouttb.org
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(19/08/10) The Independent - Test offers hope of TB breakthrough

Promising research into a predictive blood test to identify the one in 10 people infected with TB who will go on to develop the full disease, may enable doctors to treat only those shown to be at high-risk from the illness, instead of giving potent anti-TB drugs to everyone who is shown to be infected with TB bacterium.

The research, published in the journal Nature and led by Anne O'Garra of the Medical Research Council's National Institute for Medical Research in London, found a "genetic signature" in the blood of people with active TB.

Read the full article on The Independent website

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(18/08/10) BBC News - Predictive blood test for TB is 'a step closer'

Researchers have indentifed a DNA fingerprint in the blood that may be able to indicate which carriers of latent TB will go on to develop active TB illness.

Mike Mandelbaum, chief executive of TB Alert, said good progress had been made in the diagnosis of latent TB infection in recent years, but there was a need for a specific test for the active disease.

"A new diagnostic technique based on a blood test would be extremely valuable to save lives and prevent the spread of this disease," he said, "and may be particularly important in HIV positive patients with TB where the usual technique of diagnosis from sputum is often unhelpful."

Read the full story on the BBC News website

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(18/08/10) Guardian Science - Is this the answer to latent TB?

Monica Desai a British Science Association media fellow, examines the implications of the new study, led by Anne O'Garra and Matthew Berry at the MRC National Institute for Medical Research and Imperial College London, that claims to have found a way of distinguishing who might develop active TB in the future.

They discovered a biomarker that was present in those with active TB and in 10% of those with latent TB. This marker is made up of molecules manufactured by changes in the genes of people who are infected with TB. The researchers suggest this marker might allow us to predict who will develop active TB.

So will this discovery improve TB treatment? Not yet, according to Monica, this study is important, but it's too early to know whether the 10% of latent TB patients with the biomarker signature will go on to develop active disease.

So for the time being, TB remains a big problem. Molecular tools to help with diagnosis, treatment and creating vaccines are no doubt welcome. But that shouldn't stop anyone from trying to meet the Millennium Development Goal of halving the number of people with and deaths from TB by 2015, using tried and tested methods. Today's discovery, though, will hopefully help us reach that goal a little quicker.

Read the full article on the Guardian Science Blog

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(29/07/10) Swami's story, and snakes and ladders- an appeal from TB Alert

Click on each page to open a printable pdf. We do hope that when you have read our letter and Swami's story you will consider making a donation to TB Alert. You can use the form below or just go straight to our donate page.

If you cannot help right now, do download and play the special TB and HIV snakes and ladders game!

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(27/07/10) Win a funky new Mini

Take part in a fabulous raffle to win a brand new funky Mini and support TB Alert at the same time.

It’s so simple: All you have to do is click on this link and click on the big purple circle at the bottom right of the page.

The great thing about this online raffle is that TB Alert receives £1.90 of the £2 ticket and the FSI do all the administration for us – so it’s a really quick and efficient way to raise money to help us save more lives.

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(20/07/10) Launch of the The Truth About TB e-newsletter

The first issue of The Truth About TB quarterly e-newsletter - developed by TB Alert as the Department of Health’s key partner in raising awareness of TB - received a warm welcome from professionals across the public and third sectors, when it was released on Wednesday 14 July.

The newsletter extends the reach of The Truth About TB website, which provides information about TB for people at risk of the illness, to a wider audience of professionals in the NHS, third sector and statutory bodies who are interested in issues relating to TB and TB service provision. The newsletter features contributions from people at the front-line of TB service provision, and from TB patients themselves; including the story of Arthensia Brown who waited over a year to gain an accurate diagnosis when she was suffering from TB, during which time she was treated for allergies and even attempted to treat herself with cold remedies.

Readers are invited to add their comments, and share their own experiences and learning on our online discussion. To read more, add your comments or subscribe please visit The Truth About TB news section.

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(30/06/10) Race Against TB - news from the seminar

100 leaders from the NHS, local government and the third sector were recently brought together by TB Alert and Race for Health to produce a set of best practice recommendations to tackle the health inequalities that lie at the heart of the rising incidence of TB.

The ‘Race Against Tuberculosis’ seminar, held at the King’s Fund Centre in London on 30th June, heard that the failure to tackle TB is killing people, blighting the lives of many more, particularly in BME communities, and creating strains that threaten the effectiveness of drug therapy. The event highlighted the need to address TB within a social model of health, to drive forward improvements in access to TB services and outcomes for patients.

A series of lively workshops was held, covering good practice in community engagement, commissioning TB awareness, linking clinical and social approaches, and embedding an integrated approach with local government partners. Workshops were led with presentations from organisations already delivering innovative TB programmes across the public and third sectors, which inspired the shared insights and experiences that shaped the recommendations from the day.

A report of the seminar will be published during the summer. To receive a copy please email your contact details to thetruthabouttb@tbalert.org

The event was co-hosted by TB Alert and Race for Health, the NHS based programme that works with Trusts and PCTs to drive forward improvements in health for people from BME backgrounds.

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(19/05/10) The Lancet publishes a series on TB

The Lancet Medical Journal today published a series on TB. If you are interested, you can register free to access the articles online.
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(07/05/10) Brighton Marathon 2011 - run for TB Alert!

Following the hugely successful first Brighton Marathon in April (which has already been ranked within the top 5 marathons in the world) the date has just been announced for next year.

It will take place on Sunday 10th April 2011 and TB Alert will be there in force! We have 20 charity places, and we're looking for as many runners AND supporters as possible to help raise awareness (and funds!) here in our home town.

If you would like to run - please try the general entries first - just enter online here. Entries opened on 10th May 2010, and they expect to be full in a matter of weeks! The more of our runners who get their own place, the bigger our team will be! The Brighton Marathon have suggested charities you can run for but you can opt to run for whoever you want (and we hope you run for us!). But if you do find entries have closed by the time you enter, then you can apply for one of our charity places by emailing briggy.smale@tbalert.org.

If running isnt your thing then we are also looking for volunteers to help behind the scenes - to see our runners off at the start, to cheer them along the way, and to congratulate them at the finish. All TB Alert runners, their family and other supporters, and volunteers are invited to our exclusive after-party at one of Brighton's premier venues, with live music, food, drink and massage for tired legs.

Whether you want to run the marathon, support from the sidelines or help out behind the scenes, please let us know by emailing briggy.smale@tbalert.org or fundraising@tbalert.org. Thanks!
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(21/04/10) New edition of WHO TB treatment guidelines

The World Health Organisation's Stop TB department has published the fourth edition of Treatment of Tuberculosis: Guidelines. The guidelines contain a number of new recommendations, including a call to discontinue regimens based on just two months of rifampicin (2HRZE/6HE). They reinforce prior WHO recommendations for drug susceptability testing (DST) at the start of therapy for all previously treated patients, and provide guidance for appropriate treatment approaches in light of advances in laboratory technology and the country's progress in building laboratory capacity.

They also reaffirm recommendations for supervised treatment, as well as the use of fixed-dose combinations of anti-TB drugs and patient kits as further measures for preventing the acquisition of drug resistance.

Read the full report. The Guidelines will be available in hard copy from 30th April. For more information, write to WHO
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(06/04/10) World TB Day Parliamentary Questions report from the APPG

On World TB Day MPs raised ten parliamentary questions about TB. Read their questions and the answers given here in a report provided by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Global TB.
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(06/04/10) Radio 4 Appeal Update

Our thanks to all of the kind donors who responded to Jeremy Paxman's appeal on Radio 4 earlier this year. So far we have raised nearly £13,000 plus gift aid- a wonderful achievement for a small charity like ours!

While making the BBC programme "Who do you think you are?" Jeremy Paxman discovered his great grandparents died of TB within two years of each other, leaving his grandfather an orphan at 10 years old.

We were delighted that he agreed to present our appeal which was broadcast on Radio 4 on Sunday 28th February and Thursday 4th March, and can still be heard on Radio 4 Listen Again.

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(24/03/10) Financial Times "Combating TB" Report

TB Alert is delighted to have received a free advertisment in the Financial Times special World TB Day (24th March) "Combating TB" Report.

Thank you to everyone who made a donation after reading our advert.

If you didn't get to pick up a copy of the report click here to read the full report plus extra online-only articles.

Reporter Andrew Jack produced a video alongside the report, including an interview with our Chair of Trustees, Paul Sommerfeld and other experts .

Archbishop Tutu had TB as a child, and is a tireless activist in the fight against TB. We are delighted to have the Archbishop as our Patron, and honoured that in his guest column for the FT report he said he was proud to be Patron of TB Alert.

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(24/03/10) ARCHIVE's TB and Housing Community Engagement Project

March 24th marks World TB Day. On the same day, the ARCHIVE Institute’s will launch its Happy Healthy Housing initiative concerning tuberculosis and housing in the London Borough of Brent. It is often assumed that TB has virtually died out in the UK; that it is a disease of the developing world. The reality is quite different: TB is in fact on the rise in the UK, and has been since the late 1980s (TB Alert). The year 2008 saw 8,655 TB cases reported in the UK, representing a 2.2% increase from 2007(HPA). The majority of cases occur in the non-UK-born (72%) and those aged 15-44 years (61%).

Find out more about the Brent Project here

Read ARCHIVE's World TB Day Press release here

ARCHIVE’s goal is the creation of ‘healthy homes’: living conditions, which reduce health risks and provide care for the world's most vulnerable communities. The ARCHIVE Inst works squarely at the intersection of housing and health, using one fundamental right (housing) to deliver another (health). Housing is perhaps the ultimate nexus between the built environment and health disparities: it has been the focus of much recent research and intervention activity looking at new approaches to old problems. ARCHIVE uses a community-driven and site-specific approach to housing, which targets the health challenges faced by individual households and provides them with the skills to sustain these changes in the future

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(23/03/10) DFID £8m fund for TB Vaccine Research

Global efforts to combat tuberculosis gained momentum today when the government of the United Kingdom announced generous funding to the Aeras Global TB Vaccine Foundation. The first-ever grant of £ 8,000,000 (approximately US$ 13 million) is a significant show of support for Aeras in its mission to develop new TB vaccines.

"If the international community is serious about tackling HIV and TB we must find a way to break this devastating cycle," said Mike Foster, the UK Minister for International Development." That is why the UK is supporting the discovery of a new TB vaccine that is safe for babies born with HIV, and why we are scaling up efforts to reduce the impact of drug resistant strains of TB."

"The BCG vaccine is ancient technology, predating even television. It is very welcome that the UK government is recognizing the crucial importance of developing a new, effective, and reliable vaccine against TB; as well as the contributions already being made by British researchers in collaboration with Aeras. With a new vaccine, the dream of eliminating TB by 2050 may become achievable." said Paul Sommerfeld of TB Alert.

"Investment by the UK government in our TB vaccine development program is a tremendous boost for Aeras and our partners, especially during such a difficult economic environment," said R. Gordon Douglas, Jr., MD, Executive Chairman of the Aeras Global TB Vaccine Foundation. "We are grateful to DFID for this generous support."

Read the full press release here
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(23/03/10) HPA publishes new UK TB figures for 2009 - 5.5% increase

Provisional figures released today by the Health Protection Agency (HPA) show that cases of tuberculosis (TB) in the UK have increased by 5.5%, from 8,679 reported in 2008 to 9,153 in 2009.

Read the full press release from the HPA here

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(29/01/10) Jeremy Paxman to present Radio 4 Appeal for TB Alert

While making the BBC programme "Who do you think you are?" Jeremy Paxman discovered his great grandparents died of TB within two years of each other, leaving his grandfather an orphan at 10 years old.

We are delighted that he has agreed to present our appeal which will be broadcast on Radio 4 (92.4-94.6FM or 198 LW) on Sunday 28th February at 7.55am or, for the not so early risers, at 9.26pm. It is also repeated on Thursday 4th March at 3.27pm.

Click here to watch a 30 second video trailer for the appeal by Jeremy Paxman

The Radio Appeal has cost us nothing and we are really grateful to Jeremy Paxman for his support. Now all we need is lots of people to listen!! TB Alert doesn't have an advertising budget so our best chance is word of mouth (or post). We have produced a postcard which you can send to friends to tell them about the appeal. Call us on 01273 234784 NOW if you'd like some postcards to send to friends and family, or give out at a club or event.
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(29/01/10) Florence to perform at Jazz dinner in aid of TB Alert

The lovely doctors at St Mary's Hospital have arranged a unique evening of music with dinner in support of TB Alert and the Chest and Allergy Clinic.

This year’s event, which has now become a sell-out tradition, promises to be the most spectacular yet. We are excited to hear that Florence Welch (of ‘Florence and the Machine’) will be performing. She was recently awarded Best Album at the Brit awards for her number 1 debut album "Lungs". We are also delighted to have the Willie Garnett Band and the Imperial ‘Lung-Busters’ (featuring David Mitchell on saxophone, Andrew Wright on bass and Jonathon Hoare on drums) perform.

The event supports TB Alert, the Imperial TB Patient fund and the Imperial College Healthcare Charities Chest and Allergy fund. The cost of the evening (including 3 course meal per person) is £60.00.

There will also be an opportunity to obtain some fantastic auction items (including exclusive musical memorabilia) with Lesley Regan in the chair.

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(22/01/10) Sad news at the death of Professor Wallace Fox

We are sad to report the death of one of the great pioneers of the treatment of tuberculosis, Professor Wallace Fox, who died on Friday 22nd January 2010 after a long illness.

Professor Fox joined the British Medical Research Council in the 1950s, which was an exciting time in the history of tuberculosis as effective drugs were just becoming available. As founder and director of the Tuberculosis Chemotherapy Centre one of his early, and key, contributions was conducting a trial which showed that drug treatment at home was just as effective as treatment given in a sanatorium, even in the poor socio-economic circumstances of India. Subsequently, as director of MRC Tuberculosis and Chest Disease Unit in London, his main goal was to improve compliance with treatment. Previously treatment had to be given for two years but he trialled ways to either shorten the duration; give the drugs intermittently - or both. This led to the six-month drugs regimens that are now used worldwide and have had a major impact on tuberculosis control. Wallace Fox was the driving force behind the MRC research programmes establishing many collaborations worldwide and working closely with two other MRC units: The Laboratory Studies of Tuberculosis - led by Denny Mitchison and in Statistics - led by Professor Ian Sutherland.

Those who worked with him remember him as an enthusiast and as a perfectionist. He was one of the great scientists of tuberculosis, whose work had a major impact on the control of the disease and, indeed more broadly, on research to develop and evaluate new treatments. We shall miss him greatly.

Professor Janet Darbyshire, TB Alert
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(07/01/10) TB rapper a sensation on Youtube

Christian Van Vuuren has TB, and recently spent 3 weeks quarantined in an Australian hospital. He made a rap video from his hospital bed. Watch Christian on Youtube.
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(05/01/10) Radio 4 Case Notes features TB

Dr Mark Porter talks about the treatment of TB in Leeds. Go to the programme archive to listen again to this programme, and hear TBAG member Natalie talk about her experiences.
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(05/01/10) Archbishop Tutu Anniversary Appeal for TB Alert

If you have received the recent letter from the Archbishop appealing for donations for TB Alert to commemorate our 10th Anniversary, click here to go to our Donate page.

If you did not receive the Archbishop's letter click on the pages below for a scanned image of the letter.

You can also download our gift form and the flyer which illustrates just a few projects which TB Alert has been able to do with the support of our donors over our first decade.

Archbishop Tutu was our first patron and has supported TB Alert since 2006. As someone who has survived TB he knows how important it is to fight this killer disease.
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(23/12/09) The Truth About TB website now live

Check out our new website for people affected by or concerned about TB. Read about TB, ask us a question, read other people's TB stories or leave your own, and watch our video online. Go to www.thetruthabouttb.org
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(04/11/09) Sad news at the death of Sir John Crofton

Our founder and Honorary President Sir John died peacefully at home yesterday at the age of 97.

Emeritus Professor of Respiratory Diseases and Tuberculosis, University of Edinburgh Sir John Crofton was knighted in 1977 for his contributions to TB control.

On return from the battlefield hospitals of World War Two, Sir John was at the sharp end of Scotland’s post-war tuberculosis epidemic when he was put in charge of 400 TB hospital beds in Edinburgh. It was this work that led him to a series of discoveries about the disease. Sir John led the team responsible for bringing TB under control in only 6 years – 1/3 of the time predicted. This was the first demonstration of mass control of TB, and crucially, Sir John and his research team made the breakthrough that a combination of three separate antibiotics was required to combat the killer condition. This multi-drug regimen (which became known as the “Edinburgh method”) is now used to fight TB worldwide, and has since saved millions of lives.

An indefatigable pioneer and international physician, Sir John has been a leader in the work of the World Health Organisation (WHO) and other international bodies, a celebrated author and an influential teacher.

The International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (IUATLD) awarded Sir John the organisation’s highest award, The Union Medal, which recognises outstanding contributions to the control of tuberculosis and lung disease, on October 19th 2005.

Never one to slow down, almost to the very end of his life Sir John continued as an inspiring worker in the field of tuberculosis and tobacco control, and fundraising tirelessly on behalf of TB Alert.

To the staff and trustees of TB Alert he has been an inspiration throughout the 10 years of our charity's existence, greatly admired and respected. He will be sadly missed.

Sir John's funeral will be held in Edinburgh on Tuesday 10th November. His family have requested no flowers, but donations if wished, to TB Alert.

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In his own words
"Confessional" - an amusing look back at his early career by Sir John - published in A 1992 Edition of Thorax

Tributes and obituaries:
Read a tribute to Sir John from the Stop TB Partnership
Article in the Herald
Article in news.scotsman.com
BBC News Scotland article
Obituary in the Independent by Tam Dalyell
Comment from The Royal College of Physicians, Edinburgh

Early Day Motion in Parliament 4/11/09:
"That this House mourns the sad loss of tuberculosis (TB) pioneer Sir John Crofton who died on 3 November 2009, aged 97; recognises his outstanding contribution to the control of TB during his lifetime with his work in the field helping to cure over 10 million people of the disease worldwide; notes that Sir John was awarded the Union Medal, the highest honour awarded by the International Union against TB and Lung Diseases for his groundbreaking work; and sends condolences to the friends and family of Sir John who will no doubt be very proud of a remarkable man."

Motions in the Scottish Parliament 4/11/09:
S3M-5135 Dr Richard Simpson: Sir John Crofton—That the Parliament is united in sadness at the death of Sir John Crofton and considers that Scotland has lost one of its most inspirational health pioneers; further notes his many achievements, such as the development of a new and effective way of treating tuberculosis (TB) in the 1950s that reduced TB in Edinburgh to almost zero in six years; commends his contribution to raising awareness about the harm caused to public health by tobacco, arguing for policies to control smoking and tobacco and calling for smoke-free legislation long before it became law in Scotland, knowing the important contribution that it would make to future public health; recognises the pivotal role that Sir John and his wife, Dr Eileen Crofton, also played in founding ASH Scotland in 1973 and believes that the ban on smoking in public places implemented by the previous Scottish Executive is a fitting tribute to his lifetime work, and welcomes the launch, earlier this year, of the Crofton Award by the Royal Environmental Health Institute of Scotland in partnership with ASH Scotland to recognise the achievements of young people in reducing tobacco and smoking-related harm in Scotland and in honour of Sir John and Lady Eileen Crofton’s tireless work over the decades on tobacco control.

S3M-5130 Shirley-Anne Somerville: Sir John Crofton—That the Parliament notes with sadness the passing of health pioneer Sir John Crofton, who died on Tuesday 3 November 2009 in Edinburgh, aged 97; highlights Sir John’s inspirational health career that included his development of a new and effective way of treating tuberculosis (TB) in the 1950s and the reduction of TB in Edinburgh to almost zero in six years with his groundbreaking and revolutionary Edinburgh method of treatment with a combination of drugs; further notes that his work led to the mass BCG vaccination that reduced TB in Britain from 50,000 recorded cases in the 1950s to just 5,500 in 1987; acknowledges that Sir John spent much of his life fighting to raise awareness about the harm caused to public health by tobacco and called for smoke-free legislation long before it became law in Scotland, and notes that Sir John and his wife, Dr Eileen Crofton, played a pivotal role in founding the tobacco control charity, ASH Scotland, in 1973 and that a Crofton Award was recently launched by ASH Scotland and the Royal Environmental Health Institute of Scotland, recognising the achievements of young people in reducing tobacco and smoking-related harm in Scotland.

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Related information

News Archive 2009
News Archive 2008
News archive 2007
News archive 2006
News archive 2005
News archive 1998-2004

Update: 15-09-2008

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