TB is one of the leading causes of death through infectious disease.
According to the World Health Organization, nearly two million people die from TB every year and roughly one-third of the world's population are today infected with the TB bacillus and at risk from the disease. Breakdown in healthcare services, the spread of HIV/AIDS and emergence of multidrug-resistant TB are issues contributing to the increasing prevalence of this disease.
AstraZeneca is proud to play a part in combating TB. Alongside our commitment to finding a new treatment for the disease at our dedicated research facility in Bangalore, we support a range of projects around the world designed to help communities understand TB and learn how to combat it.
AstraZeneca supports the British Red Cross to fund community-based programmes, managed by the local Red Crescent societies, which are designed to help combat the disease in the high incidence areas of Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan. Over 70% of the population in these countries live below the poverty line and the incidence of TB is among the highest in Central Asia.
We are also supporting the Red Cross in their work to combat TB/HIV co-infection in Kazakhstan, where the local Red Cross/Red Crescent organisations have established effective, sustainable and replicable models of treatment and social support for patients with TB and HIV, and their families. The programme aims to identify and deliver effective forms of social support and care for those in need as well as introduce an educational campaign to raise awareness of both diseases among target groups. The programme's aim is to contribute to the reduction of TB/HIV co-infection, which has emerged as a significant threat the public health in the region.
Our programmes in Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan aim to combat the spread of TB and fight the stigma associated with the disease; to support the most vulnerable in society, and to build local capacity and develop a sustainable approach to fighting the problem.
The initiative centres around four core objectives:
- to increase the level of awareness of the disease within the community
- to encourage people to seek early diagnosis if TB is suspected
- to improve compliance to treatment when it has been diagnosed
- to provide ongoing care and nutritional support to patients
Information is distributed to homes, schools, factories and clinics about the preventative measures that can be taken against TB and the availability of free diagnosis and treatment. Working with government health ministers, community leaders and schools, specific groups such as schoolchildren and factory workers are also targeted through individual health education sessions. Particular attention is also given to such high-risk groups as former prisoners and the homeless. Specially trained Red Cross community health nurses play a key role in providing homecare and nutritional support (in the form of food parcels and hot meals) to TB patients.
Progress since the project began in 2002 includes a significant increase in community awareness of TB following health education sessions in schools and public places, which have reached over 100,000 people. An increasing number of diagnosed patients are now completing their treatment, due to the care and support of the dedicated nurses. An important part of the project is the development of best practice guidelines that can be used for wider dissemination within the region and elsewhere.
In 2005, AstraZeneca extended funding to the programme for a further three years, enabling the delivery of activities designed to further reduce the spread of TB and care for those most at risk.
This year, we are also working in partnership with other community based organisations to tackle TB at a local level in India and South Africa, and are taking part in a stakeholder event in the UK to mobilise policy makers, governments, NGOs and industry to implement the World Health Organisation Global Plan to Stop TB.
In the Chris Hani district of the Eastern Cape Province in South Africa, which has the highest TB rate in the country, we are supporting a TB control and management project run by The African Medical and Research Foundation (AMREF). The project is helping to make an impact on TB infection rates by raising awareness of symptoms, testing and treatment, and by providing training for local health workers in the internationally recognised TB treatment programme, DOTS (Directly Observed Treatment Short-course). On the eve of World TB Day 2006, we also organised an event in South Africa to encourage other partners to join the AMREF programme.
Alongside our TB research in Bangalore, AstraZeneca India is working with local community groups to raise awareness of TB and what people can do to prevent the transmission of the disease. In a campaign themed “Stop Spitting. Stop TB”, our sales force has distributed posters and leaflets in local Indian languages to clinics, hospitals and nursing homes to raise awareness of TB among patients and general public. In addition, we are joining with local radio and TV stations to host a series of programmes, including a phone in programme and a TB quiz on Chandana TV Channel in Kannada and the All India Radio.
In the UK, AstraZeneca participated in a forum on “Meeting the Millennium Development Goal on Tuberculosis” which discussed how Britain could help address the challenges facing the global community in fighting TB and deliver on the Global Plan to Stop TB 2006-2015. The forum is an opportunity to engage with a wide range of stakeholders, including policy makers, governments, NGOs and the private sector, on how the recently launched Global Plan to Stop TB can be implemented.