An informal advocacy alliance that shares a commitment to raising awareness of tuberculosis and to increasing the political will to control the disease through the WHO Europe Region and worldwide.
TB EUROPE COALITION NEWSFLASH
18/03/2014
The TBEC newsletter brings you news items, information about upcoming events and stories from the region every month. We hope that you will find this newsletter interesting, and we hope that it will inspire you to share stories from your own work.
To become a member of the TB Europe Coalition or to share your work, please email Fanny Voitzwinkler at fvoitzwinkler@ghadvocates.org.
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TB rates in some of Europe's biggest cities continue to increase
A study looking into European cities with populations greater than 500,000 has found that TB in western Europe is not only concentrated in big cities and that, despite reducing incidence nationwide, TB within some of the region's largest cities continues to increase. In many cases the rate of TB in these cities was twice the rate of the countries national TB incidence.
Much of this can be attributed to TB mainly affecting certain high risk urban groups, including homeless people and those with previous drugs and alcohol misuse. Referencing this, Ibrahim Abubakar, Professor of Infectious Diseases at UCL, said: Elimination of TB in European big cities requires control measures focused on addressing the diversity of individuals in urban populations and efforts to target TB must drive right down to local and regional level where unique experience of how to reduce the infection can be shared and built upon.
A working group has now been set up with the intent of seeking ways to address this problem. Recently, the group has drawn up a study describing the particular complexities of major EU cities creating specific opportunities for the transmission of TB. You can read more on the study here.
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EVENT: Tuberculosis: How is Europe responding to the new challenge?
On 20th March 2014 European Voice will be organising what promises to be an interesting and engaging debate on Europe's response to multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB). We know that TB remains a persistent and growing problem in the European region, particularly with drug-resistance. This why new answers are needed and needed urgently.
The voice, taking part on 20th March, will bring together leading politicians, officials, researchers and civil society organisations who will explore how far Europe has acknowledged the urgency, what it has done so far about finding solutions, and what it can do to move faster. The event will also see the launch of a research report on MDR-TB written by Peter O'Donnell, European Voice's associate editor.
Also taking part in the event will be: Fanny Voitzwinkler, TBEC co-ordinator; Claudiu Tanansescu, MEP; Martin Seychell, deputy director-general of DG SANCO; Prof. Dr. Robert Loddenkemper, European Respiratory Society; Dr. Adrian Thomas, vice-president and head of global public health at Janssen, and Dr. Robert Bertollini, chief scientist and representative of WHO to the EU. You can find out more details on the event here.
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TBEC calls for your experiences with TB
Ahead of World TB Day 2014, the TB Europe Coalition are making a call for stories and experiences from across the region.
The TB problem in Europe and worldwide is often heard about through the statistics: the number of new cases that develop each year, the number of people who die from it and the monetary figure required to eliminate the disease. Within this narrative, the voices of those people whose lives are most affected by TB are lost. We want to be able to tell the human side of the TB problem through experiences from across the region. Whether you are a current or former patient, family member, health worker or a TB advocate it would be great to hear from you.
While progress has been achieved; new challenges are emerging, particularly around drug-resistant TB and the phasing out of many international donors. These service to remind us that the fight against TB requires sustained political will and financial investment if we are to finally eradicate the disease. If you have any news or stories from across the region that you would like to share, please email Bruce Warwick at bruce.warwick@results.org.uk.
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