Key facts
TB is curable
and preventable, yet:
- 2 billion people, or one-third or the world's population, are infected with TB
- 1.7 million people died from TB in 2006
- There were 9.2 million new TB cases worldwide in 2006
- 8,496 cases of TB were reported in England, Wales and N.Ireland in 2007
- 1 in 10 people infected with TB will become sick with active TB in their lifetime
- TB is a leading killer of people infected with HIV
- Sub-Saharan Africa and Europe are the two regions most off track to reach MDG targets for TB
source: WHO
Welcome
Welcome to the website of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Global Tuberculosis.
The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Global Tuberculosis (APPG on Global TB) was established in 2006 in response to cross-party concern for the growing scale and impact of the TB epidemic and to reinforce the UK’s commitment to halting and reversing the incidence of TB worldwide.
The purpose of this website is to share information about the Group and its work and to help raise the profile of the global TB problem among decision-makers and the public.
APPG News
MPs DEBATE LOCAL TUBERCULOSIS SERVICES 30/04/08
Julie Morgan MP, co-Chair of the APPG on Global TB opened a debate today on local tuberculosis services in Westminster Hall. The debate follows the launch of the APPG's report 'Putting Tuberculosis on the Local Agenda' last month.
Minister
of State for the Department of Health Dawn Primarolo outlined the Department's
plans to continue its work to tackle the increasing number of cases of
TB in the UK.
Ms Primarolo said that the Department welcomed the recommendations of the report from the APPG and the British Thoracic Society regarding the need for a national TB awareness campaign tailored to local circumstances and aimed at health care professionals and the general public and a named TB Lead within each PCT.
Read the full debate on Hansard
______________________________________
APPG WARNS THAT PCTs ARE FAILING IN THE FIGHT AGAINST TB 26/03/08
A new report launched today by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Global Tuberculosis and the British Thoracic Society shows that Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) are systematically failing to implement Government guidelines on TB at a time when 70% of PCTs predict that the number of TB cases in their region is set to rise.
The report 'Putting Tuberculosis on the Local Agenda' shows worrying gaps in the implementation of the Government's TB Action Plan and NICE guidelines.
______________________________________
FIRST BRITISH CASE OF XDR-TB IS 'WAKE-UP CALL' ABOUT RESURGENCE OF DISEASES 21/03/08
The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Global Tuberculosis has warned that the diagnosis of the first case of Extensively Drug-Resistant TB (XDR-TB) in the UK is a “wake-up call” to British politicians and the public about the global resurgence of tuberculosis, which can be a killer.
The Group on Global TB was responding to reports that a patient diagnosed with XDR-TB is being treated in a Glasgow hospital. In its XDR form the disease is virtually untreatable.
The Group's Co-Chair, Nick Herbert MP, said: “While there is no cause for alarm, this case is a wake- up call to British politicians and the public about the global resurgence of a disease which can be a killer. Most people think that TB is a disease of the past, but in fact it is a pandemic of the present. With more concerted global action, most of the 1.7 million people who die of TB each year could be treated relatively easily and cheaply. But the latest drug resistant forms of the disease present a serious new challenge.”
______________________________________
WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION REPORTS HIGHEST RATES OF DRUG-RESISTANT TB TO DATE 26/02/08
Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) has been recorded at the highest rates ever, according to a new World Health Organization (WHO) report that presents findings from the largest survey to date on the scale of drug resistance in tuberculosis.
WHO estimates there are nearly half a million new cases of MDR-TB - about 5% of the total nine million new TB cases - worldwide each year. The report also found that extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB), a virtually untreatable form of the disease, has been recorded in 45 countries.
In March 2007, the APPG on Global TB noted that the 'increasing incidence and virulence of drug resistant strains of TB presents a major public health challenge that needs to be addressed with urgency'. The APPG continues to call upon the UK Government to do all it can to help prevent further transmission of drug-resistant TB and to equip countries to correctly diagnose and treat all strains of the disease.
Read the full WHO press release
______________________________________
RCN TUBERCULOSIS NURSES FORUM 27/02/08
Julie Morgan MP gave the keynote address at this year's Royal College of Nursing TB Nurses Forum highlighting the role of the APPG and the Group's commitment to TB services in the UK. Julie urged TB nurses to share their expertise and experience with the APPG and to get involved in efforts to raise the profile of TB among their policymakers and local community.
Upcoming meetings & events
TB exhibition on show in House of Commons
Two UK specialist TB charities, Target TB and TB Alert will be displaying an exhibtion on TB and the work of their organisations in the UK, Africa and Asia.
The exhibition will be on display in the Upper Waiting Hall of the House of Commons from Monday 12 May to Friday 16 May. For more information, contact Alastair Burtt at Target TB 01273 821056 aburtt@targettb.org.uk.