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

FIRST MAJOR BREAKTHROUGH IN TB CONTROL IN 150 YEARS 02/07/08

On Monday 30th June in Geneva the WHO, in collaboration with the Stop TB Partnership, FIND (Foundation for Innovative Diagnostics) and UNITAID will announce a landmark initiative to provide developing countries with a valuable new tool in the fight against the global TB epidemic.

 

Almost half a million people a year develop MDR-TB, a dangerous form of TB that cannot be treated with standard drugs. The normal process of diagnosing MDR-TB is very laborious and can take up to two months for results to be obtained.

 

Read the full Media release

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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

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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.

Read the full press release

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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.”

Read the full press release

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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

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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

Health Protection Conference 2008. 1 Day Symposium on Tuberculosis

17t September 2008, University of Warwick

For more information go to The HPA conference Website

Union World Conference on Lung Health of the IUATLD (The Union)

Will be held at the Palais des Congres in Paris, France, from 16 to 20 October 2008.

The theme of the Conference is “Global threats to lung health: the importance of health system responses” 

For more information go to The Union Conference Website

TB clinical training course

Manchester Royal Infirmary, Thursday 20th November, 2008.

For more information contact Silke Trier silke.trier@cmmc.nhs.uk