On 19th April 2010, The UK Coalition to Stop TB is happy to be involved with Poet in the City on 19th April at Kings Place from 7pm.
Poet in the City is a philanthropic charity committed to attracting new audiences to poetry. On 19th April they will be holding an event celebrating the life, work and death of the poet John Keats. Amongst the speakers will be Pamela Neville-Sington, a celebrated biographer, who will discuss Keats’ early death from tuberculosis, and the subsequent fascination with this.
The UK Coalition to Stop TB will be manning a stall during the event and engaging with the audience by distributing information on tuberculosis and encouraging people to become TB advocates. If you are interested in attending this event please do follow the link to see more information about the event, and where to buy tickets here
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria’s Board of Directors has made an overall approval of grants with a two-year commitment of US$2.4 billion.
It is the ninth time the Global Fund Board approved new proposals to support programmes fighting the three diseases. The total two-year value of the programmes recommended for funding was US$2.4 billion; the second largest ever approved by the Global Fund, following a US$2.75 billion round in 2008. The Global Fund has now approved a total funding of US$18.4 billion for 144 countries since it was created in 2002.
“These grants enable countries around the world to address some of the main problems they are struggling with every day,” said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Ethiopian Health Minister and Chair of the Global Fund Board. “These grants are based on the countries’ own needs and priorities and they are therefore a particularly effective source of financing.”
TB proposals did particularly well in Round 9 and received the highest level of funding to date – up to $US 1.5 billion over five years. A total of 34 new TB proposals were approved. Round 9 will provide for three times as much funding for drug-resistant TB as the previous round. The funding will support measures including securing adequate laboratory facilities and infection control measures and prevention of further emergence of drug resistance by ensuring that the essential elements of DOTS are in place.
The Global Fund Board decided to launch its next round of grants in May 2010. This round of funding will be considered for approval at a Board meeting to be held some time between November 2010 and January 2011.
“We are seeing a tremendous demand for funding,” said Michel Kazatchkine, the Executive Director of the Global Fund. “Countries are showing that they are able to effectively turn large amounts of money from donors into prevention, care and treatment of AIDS, TB and malaria, which in turn will save millions of lives. It also means that we need significantly more resources in the future. We may not be able to continue approving such amounts of financing and see continued progress in health in the coming years unless donor countries scale up their funding even further than what they have done so far.”
Sir John Crofton, the man who pioneered life-saving treatment for tuberculosis sufferers has died in Edinburgh at the age of 97.
Sir John led a team of scientists which found a cure for TB by using a combination of three antibiotics.
In tributes following his death, he has been called one of the greatest physicians of the 20th century.
His work in combating TB – which came to be known as the “Edinburgh Method” – has saved the lives of thousands of people, and improved the health of millions more across the world.
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. Sir John was Honorary President of UK Coalition to Stop TB member TB Alert, for whom he fundraised tirelessly.
Click here to read a full obituary.
