TB is preventable and curable. Why is it that it is still affecting so many parts of the world?
TB is indeed a very curable disease, yet it still kills around 4,500 people every day. The truth is that it is a disease of poverty and virtually all TB deaths occur in the developing world affecting the most vulnerable, poorest and undernourished people. It’s a vicious circle; the disease spreads more rapidly where there is overcrowding, poor housing, inadequate sanitation and malnutrition.
To make matters worse, new drug-resistant strains of tuberculosis are also present in virtually every country around the world. There are around 450,000 new cases of multi-drug resistant (MDR) TB reported each year.
Countries’ health systems need to be strengthened to fight TB through improved infrastructure, investment in clinical care, more community health workers and by increasing communities’ capacity to cope.
How is the Red Cross and Red Crescent movement helping in the fight against TB?
We recognise the magnitude of the TB challenge. Our efforts are focussed directly on improving the well-being of people affected by TB. Red Cross and Red Crescent activities complement the work of formal health systems by delivering care and support “beyond the clinic door”. In particular, we help poor and marginalized people to access health services. This is often in rural areas. We manage to get more people fully treated through a personalized approach to patients which includes the provision of supplementary food and psychosocial support.
Why is it so crucial to reach the most vulnerable groups? Is there a need for specific communication with them?
Today, Red Cross and Red Crescent societies worldwide are addressing TB in their communities – concentrating on the most vulnerable and at-risk patients and encouraging political, social and behavioural change at every level. We must break the vicious circle that allows TB to kill so many people so needlessly.
In the fight against MDR-TB, we’re working increasingly in partnerships that allow organisations to specialise in what they’re good at. We work very closely with communities, governments, NGOs such as USAID, and private companies like Lilly and Astra Zeneca, to prevent TB and to care for people affected by it.
Our experience also shows that celebrities and well-known people can really engage public support, mobilise people and raise awareness. South African TV Celebrity Gerry Elsdon, for example, has agreed to be a Red Cross Red Crescent TB advocate.
How efficient is your action? Do you have figures showing you are making a difference?
Our programmes have been effective in reaching and caring for tuberculosis patients – as well as people living with HIV. In both cases, our volunteers and staff ensure patients take their medication correctly and provide them with food and social and psychological support. They play a vital role in fighting the stigma associated with both HIV and TB, so integrating the programmes is logical.
Currently, over 30 Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in Eastern Europe, Central Asia and Africa are caring for 50,000 of the most vulnerable TB patients every day, and over 2,000 of those are also living with HIV.
The IFRC-coordinated TB care project demonstrates that decentralizing TB care and bringing it into the community can really make a difference in combating TB and MDR-TB.
Most volunteers and staff are themselves members of the worst-affected communities. Currently around 200 former TB and MDR-TB patients, and 3,500 family members and their households are involved in Red Cross and Red Crescent MDR-TB activities.
With the highest HIV/TB rates in eastern and southern Africa, Red Cross Societies in Kenya, Mozambique, Namibia and South Africa are increasingly integrating TB with HIV and AIDS home-based care projects to fight co-infection and the mounting number of TB cases.