24th March 2010 sees the celebration of WORLD TB DAY! With the launch of the UK Coalition to Stop TB’s new campaign ’TB: A Disease of the Past? Action Now!’ being launched today, the coalition aims to challenge the UK Government on the eve of a general election, to prioritise tuberculosis on the domestic and global health agendas, and take the lead in the international response to fight TB.

Gordon Brown MP, Leader of the Labour Party, Prime Minister

“Tuberculosis kills 5,000 people every day in the world’s poorest countries. But together we can stop it. The UK is providing unprecedented support to the Global Fund for AIDS, TB and Malaria, which has already helped to treat 5.4 million people with TB. As well as providing treatment we must stay ahead of the disease as it evolves and builds resistance. That’s why we’re investing £30 million to support the discovery and development of new and more effective drugs. We are determined to beat Tuberculosis.”

David Cameron MP, Leader of the Conservative Party

“World TB Day 2010 should prompt the world to focus on the urgent steps needed to reverse the spread of this disease. We need to build strong health systems in developing countries, tackle HIV/AIDS, and work to counter the growing threat of drug-resistance. In a globalised world, action to tackle killer diseases like TB, in the UK and abroad, is both a moral imperative and an urgent national security priority.”

Nick Clegg MP, Leader of the Liberal Democrat Party

“The rising incidence of TB, especially of drug-resistant forms of the disease, both at home and around the world is truly worrying. It’s the world’s most vulnerable people who suffer most from the disease – particularly those in sub-Saharan Africa and those living with HIV/AIDS. It is a scandal that, despite some progress, the Millennium Development Goal to halt the spread of TB will not be met on current form.

We have an enormous moral responsibility to people in developing countries; this is why we support the Global Plan to Stop TB. We’d make sure the UK pays its fair share towards implementing the plan. We also recognise the link between HIV/AIDS and TB – we would make sure DFID takes a comprehensive approach to addressing these diseases and would continue to promote research into new diagnostic tools, treatments and vaccines.”

With only five years remaining to meet the Millenium Development Goals (MDGs), almost 5,000 people will continue to die from tuberculosis every day. Now is the time to take action!

At 12pm on 24th March 2010 the UK Coalition to Stop TB delivered their TB Election Asks to No.10 Downing Street. Kibble Ngalauka, Executive Director of the Sue Ryder Foundation, Malawi and Aparna Barua, coordinator of the UK Coalition to Stop TB were present alongside Clare Shaw from Target Tuberculosis and Mike Smith, coordinator of the APPG on Global TB.

Young boy, rifles through rubbish to sell.

The UK Coalition to Stop TB in partnership with Target Tuberculosis is hosting an evening reception for World TB Day on 24th March, 2010.

The event will launch the Coalition’s 2010 campaign to obtain a commitment from all of the major political parties to continue to support and scale up the fight against TB globally and in the UK, and to ensure that TB is a priority in the global health agenda.

The event will also launch Target TB’s photo exhibition ‘Hope – stories from India,’ which features the pictures of professional photographer David Brunetti, who travelled to India with Target TB to document the impact of the TB pandemic on some of the country’s most marginalised communities. The exhibition will display some of his most informative and poignant images in order to raise awareness of, and advocate for, TB control in India.

The reception will be held from 6.30-8.30pm in Westminster, London, by invitation only. If you are interested in attending, please email Domonique Gallagher at intern@targettb.org.uk

Moneesha Kumari is three and a half years old and lives with her family deep in the heart of the slums of Dehradun, Uttarakhand State, India . She has TB. Here, Mrs Irish, Community Health Worker from Target TB's AKS Hope project, administers life-saving TB treatment and explains the importance of adhering to her treatment to her father.

Children in a poor community in North West India watch a puppet show organised by the AKS Hope project. Health education initiatives such as these are an integral part of TB control efforts in vulnerable communities where awareness of the disease is low.

 
All-Party Parliamentary Groups (APPGs) exist to focus Parliamentary attention and activity on a specific issue.

The APPG on Global Tuberculosis was established in 2006 by Andrew George MP (Liberal Democrat – St Ives and Isles of Scilly), Nick Herbert MP (Conservative – Arundel and South Downs) and Julie Morgan MP (Labour – Cardiff North) who jointly chair the Group. The overall purpose of the APPG is to raise the profile of the global tuberculosis epidemic (which includes the growing incidence of TB in the UK) and to help accelerate efforts to meet international TB control targets.

The APPG on Global Tuberculosis has a growing membership of Parliamentarians from both the House of Commons and the House of Lords. APPG membership is restricted to Members of Parliament, but other interested parties, such as non-governmental organisations, academics and practitioners may be invited to attend meetings.

Key Objectives

To campaign for TB to be made a political priority for the UK Government, Political Parties and the international community; To co-ordinate informed Parliamentary activity on TB; To provide a forum for debate and discussion on issues relating to the global TB problem among Parliamentarians and other key stakeholders; To promote effective and sustainable solutions that will have a positive impact on meeting global TB control targets; To ensure that political and financial commitment for TB control from the UK Government and other sources is proportionate to the global need; To work in partnership with other All-Party Groups on cross-cutting issues; To build relationships with and support the activities of Parliamentarians in other countries who are working towards similar objectives; To be recognised nationally and internationally as an influential and effective partner in the fight against TB.

For more information please visit the APPG website

APPG co-chairs: from left to right: Andrew George MP, Julie Morgan MP, Nick Herbert MP

RESULTS is a grassroots advocacy organisation working to generate the public and political will to end hunger and poverty.

RESULTS supports a network of volunteer activists in the UK to become powerful advocates for change and works closely with civil society organisations around the world to generate greater awareness and resources for the fight against diseases of poverty such as TB.

Since 2005, RESULTS UK has been a partner of the Advocacy to Control Tuberculosis Internationally (ACTION) project which was developed to address and help reverse the global TB problem through policy analysis, education of decision-makers and advocacy. The project’s underlying premise is that more rapid progress can be made against the global TB epidemic by building increased support for TB among key policymakers and other opinion leaders in both donor and high TB-burden countries in order to leverage needed additional resources and to improve policies.

RESULTS UK has successfully engaged many parliamentarians in the fight against TB and currently hosts the secretariat of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on TB.

For more information about RESULTS UK’s work, please visit our website.