TPAA/GBC Statement on World TB Day

none 27 Mar 2008 – 12:06 (modified on 27 Mar 2008 – 15:13)

by Natalie Siniora

As you may know, today is World TB Day. This day holds particular importance in Russia, Ukraine and the CIS, which are home to some of the world’s most troubling tuberculosis epidemics. According to the Ministry of Health, the number of new TB infections in Russia more than doubled between 1990 and 2004. What is even more concerning is the rise of multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) and extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) within the region. According to a WHO report released last month, MDR-TB is now at its highest rates ever recorded – proportions of MDR-TB among new TB cases were 19.4% in Moldova, 16% in Donetsk in Ukraine, 15% in Tomsk Oblast in the Russian Federation, and 14.8% in Tashkent in Uzbekistan. This is a serious threat not to be taken lightly.

In 2006, we decided to add TB to our portfolio of activities at Transatlantic Partners Against AIDS/Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (TPAA/GBC). The decision was based on our belief that it is critical to address these two interrelated epidemics together. Simply put, we cannot ignore TB when confronting HIV/AIDS. This fact was further underscored by the WHO’s recent study, which also revealed a disturbing link between HIV and MDR-TB. Surveys in Latvia and Ukraine found nearly twice the level of MDR-TB among TB patients living with HIV compared with patients without HIV.

Although TB is concentrated in socially vulnerable groups, such as the homeless, unemployed, migrants, and alcohol-dependent people, the nature of the disease enables it to spread quickly and can have a devastating impact on the local economy. TB is transmitted aerially, via coughing, sneezing, spitting or talking. As a result, workplaces, where people spend long periods of time in close proximity to one another, are often a site of transmission. Three-quarters of individuals who fall sick or die of TB are in their prime working years, age 15-54. Workers who fall sick with TB can miss several months of work if untreated and are also likely to infect colleagues. If the disease takes hold in a community, it can affect both workers and consumers. According to an 2007 survey of businesses by the World Economic Forum’s Global Health Initiative, one-third of respondents expect that TB will affect their business in the next five years.

Traditionally, businesses have been seen merely as funders in the fight against epidemics like TB, but the private sector has much greater value to provide – companies have skills in research, distribution, marketing and the provision of healthcare that are invaluable in the fight against TB. Neither business, nor government, or civil society can win the fight against TB and other global epidemics alone – we each have a vital role to play. I invite you to join TPAA/GBC and the millions of people around the world who are pledging to stop TB. Let’s start in the workplace we have the power to make education and treatment easily accessible and then expand these programs into our communities. We must not forget TB is a preventable and treatable disease – we can win this battle.

*This text was taken from a letter written by Avet Khachatrian, Vice President & Director of TPAA/GBC Russia & Ukraine.

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