One of the objectives of the APPG on TB is to work with and support similar organisations around the world. Much work is being done to engage parliamentarians on TB but little communication between organisations occurs. To help get stakeholders together the secretariat of the APPG held a workshop at the IUATLD conference in Mexico focused on engaging parliamentarians. A meeting in advocates corner was also held to push forward ideas of how to set up a global network of parliamentarians engaged in TB.

Details of workshop: http://www.worldlunghealth.org/Conf2009/website/assets/files/Workshop%2011.pdf

Presentations from the workshop: /documents/Debbie Laycock APPG presentation(1).ppt

The APPG on Global TB, British Thoracic Society (BTS), Royal College of Nursing (RCN) and TB Alert today launched the results of the second national audit of English PCTs. The survey sought to assess local priority of TB and looked at the level of progress since the first survey in 2007.

Results show that progress has been made but that there is still much to do in ensuring the repsonse to TB in England is adequate. Recommendations of the report include the need to include TB patients and patient advocates in service planning and delivery and closer working relationships between PCTs and Local Authorities. The report was launched at the BTS Winter Conference.

The full report:http://www.brit-thoracic.org.uk/Portals/0/Clinical%20Information/Tuberculosis/TBSurvey2009/FINAL%20APPG%20report.pdf

The APPG's on global TB and AIDS today held a breakfast briefing session for parliametnarians focused on how to ensure treatment for HIV/AIDS and TB is made available to all for years to come. The key note speech was gievn by Dr Jorge Bermudez - Executive Secretary of UNITAID. UNITAID is a Geneva based organisation that is pioneering the use of patent pools to ensure essential drugs are to coutnries at an affordable price. The APPg AIDS recently released an excellent report entitled "The Treatment Timebomb" which explores future treatment for HIV.

More information on UNITAID: http://www.unitaid.eu/

APPG AIDS Treatment Timebomb report: http://www.appg-aids.org.uk/Publications/treatment%20timebomb.htm

DFID Minsiter Mike Foster MP and WHO Stop TB Director Mario Raviglione today spoke at a Parliamentary APPG on Global TB meeting. The meeting "Combatting tuberculosis: from social determinants to policy bottlenecks" looked at the role of supporting health system strengthening, HIV control, maternal and child health, institutional reform and laboratory strengthening in the context of improving TB outcomes and ultimately preventing future cases. It was attended by Parliamentarians and international development experts.

This week sees a TB exhibition on display in the Upper Waiting Hall of the House of Commons. The exhibition, entitled: "Airborne: A journey into the challenges and solutions to stopping MDR-TB and XDR-TB" is being held in association with the WHO Stop TB Department. The exhibition seeks to give a human face to the statistics around TB.

For more information on the exhibition: http://who.int/tb/publications/2009/airborne/en/index.html

Active APPG member Ann Cryer MP today visited St Lukes Hospital in Bradford to hear how TB affects the area including her constituency of Keighley. Ann heard from staff that TB is increasing in the area and staff are working at capacity to ensure that patients are treated and followed up correctly. St Lukes notified 149 cases in 2008 and whilst there is still much stigma locally about the disease things are starting to improve.

Due to lack of funding from the local PCT a lot of activities (including thorough follow up of chemoprophylaxis patients and the visitng of inpatients) is not occuring.

Parliamentarians and health experts recently attended a meeting focused on TB in London. Attendees heard from Dr Simon Tanner, Regional Director for Public Health and Nick Relph, London PCT Lead for TB. They highlighted current work that is being undertaken to establish functioning pan-London TB services and commissioning through a London TB Commissioning Unit, London TB Commissioning Group and London TB Clinical Reference Group. Surinder Tamne of the London TB Workforce Group also shared her experiences of TB in Ne York - describing the activities that were undertaken in the City that dramatically reduced the TB epidemic in the 1990s. The meeting concluded with the agreement that whilst much is happening in London focused on TB, progress is slow and local policy makers and PCTS must be held to account for the services they provide. The APPG is carrying out follow-up activities following the meeting and will report back soon.

Last week saw the launch of the report “ Turning UK TB policy into action: the view from the frontline”.The report included results of two separate but interconnected surveys of RCN and BTS members implemented in early 2009. The surveys sought to gain opinions from frontline staff on the state of the current response to TB in the UK and to understand the barriers that they face in successfully preventing and controlling TB.

The report found that whilst much progress has been made more effort is needed in some areas if effective services for TB are to be developed. Results included: only 44% of BTS respondents stating that their service had admin support, 47% of RCN respondents stating that they did not have the necessary skills in their service to treat patients with complex social needs and a lack of joint care between TB services and their paediatric and GU colleagues.

Dr Marc Lipman (BTS), Julie Morgan MP, and Susan Dart (RCN) at the report launch

Recommendations of the report include the call for national standards on TB to ensure accountability at the local level, clearer guidelines on the role of TB nurses in giving routine BCG, a call for increased attention on how consultant time for TB is calculated, sufficient support for TB services outside of London and implementation of guidelines on the management of co-infected and paediatric TB patients.

Read the report

E-Politix, the online parliamentary news provider has picked up the issues of TB in London and the MXU championed by the APPG and has produced two news articles.

London has 'major' TB problem

Tackling TB in London's excluded groups

Yesterday saw the release of the first ever Annual Report of the APPG on Global TB. The report looks at activities between AGMs - i.e. from June 2008 to June 2009. The report aims to highlight and consolidate the many varied activities that have occurred over the past year. It also evaluates these activities against the objectives of the APPG and examines the activities the APPG will be focusing on in the coming year.

The 2009 Annual Report can be found here

Baroness Masham, an active member of the APPG yesterday asked an oral question in the House of Lords on the use of mobile x-ray units (MXU) for TB. Baroness Masham was among three parliamentarians who recently visited the MXU when it was screening hostels in Westminster. She was impressed with what she saw but was alarmed to hear that the recommendations of an independent evaluation of the MXU were not being taken up. The oral question sought to ascertain from the Department of Health what the future of the Unit is and if a second unit will be commissioned, as recommended by the evaluation. Baroness Thornton,speaking on behalf of the Government, indicated that the Department of Health would fund the Unit up until 2010 and then it was the responsibility of London PCTs to fund it. As yet there is no indication that London PCTs will provide funding so the future of the vital MXU is in doubt.

You can read the oral question and answers here

APPG members Baroness Masham, Julie Morgan MP and Doug Naysmith MP last week visited the Mobile X-Ray Unit as it was screening for TB in Westminster. They met with staff of the MXU and residents of both the Salvation Army and St George's Hostels. They were also given a tour of St George's Hostel and learnt how health matters are promoted with residents. The visit was co-organised by the APPG and the Find and Treat TB Team.

Julie Morgan and Doug Naysmith MPs study a TB display at King George's Hostel encouraging residents to get tested

Last week saw David Evennett, MP for Crayford and Bexleyheath visit his local TB Service in Greenwich to learn more about how the disease affects his local constituents. Mr Evennett met with respiratory physicians, TB nurses, health protection staff and school nurses. He was informed of the epidemiology of TB in the area and the services that are provided to prevent and control the disease. He was also informed of the change in BCG policy and how this affects Bexleyheath.

In May, Damien Green, Shadow Cabinet Minister for Immigration, visited the TB Service in his consitunecy - Ashford. The visit, organised by the APPG, aimed to allow Mr Green MP to learn more about how the disease affects his local community. He visited The William Harvey Hospital and met with respiratory consultants, TB nurses and microbiologists.

The APPG yesterday heard about the progress being made against the TB epidemic in Latin America but also the barriers to success that still exist. The meeting, which was co-organised by the APPGs on TB, malaria, HIV/AIDS and Latin America, was focused on the progress towards achievement of MDG 6 in the region. Speakers included Dr Ernesto Jaramillo from the World Health Organisation who spoke about the issues of TB drug resistant strains, and co-infection with HIV. Parliamentarians, Ambassadors and NGO staff also heard from Matias Gomez of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria and Anamaria Bejar of the International HIV/AIDS Alliance.

The APPG will host two meetings in the coming weeks focused on TB vaccines and TB-HIV service integration.

The first meeting "Integrating TB and HIV care in Sub-Sahran Afirca: How it works in practice" will take place on Wednesday 29th April. Speakers include Malcom McNeil from the Department for International Development, Dr Kerry Bailey from COMDIS and Dr Zwame Shanaube from ZAMBART.

Download the invitation

The second meeting "Beyond BCG: Towards an effective new vaccine for TB" will take place on Wednesday 20th May. Speakers include Dr Noel Snell-an eminent TB consultant and researcher, Dr Helen McShane from the Jenner Institute in Oxford and Peg Willingham from the Aeras Global TB Vaccine Foundation.

Download the invitation

The APPG on Global TB today, World TB Day, launched a Call for Evidence into the UK's response to the global TB epidemic.

In March 2007, the APPG launched a report – “Scaling up the UK 's response to the global TB epidemic: an agenda for action”. This report aimed to analyse the UK 's involvement in global TB control and suggest recommendations that could be taken in order to strengthen and extend the UK Government's activities in this area.

Two years on, the APPG is planning to launch a follow-up report, highlighting what further action the UK has taken to address the global TB epidemic in the past two years and what further developments there have been in TB control internationally.

The APPG is inviting individuals and organisations working in the field of TB control and international development to submit evidence on their assessment of how the UK Government has responded to the global TB epidemic and thoughts on how the government can strengthen its support, if appropriate.

Read and respond to the APPG Call for Evidence

Read the APPG report "An Agenda for Action"

The APPG on Global TB has used World TB Day to launch a number of activities aimed at increasing awareness of TB in Parliamentarians.

Along with the Call for Evidence (see below), APPG members tabled a number of TB related parliamentary questions in both the House of Lords and House of Commons.

Read Parliamentary Questions on TB

The APPG co-chairs also released an article in the Westminster in-house magazine, "House Mag", which provided an update on the TB situation and highlighted the upcoming Ministerial Forum on TB Drug resistance in Beijing.

Read House Magazine article

Andrew George MP (co-chair of the APPG) and Annette Brooke MP (Treasurer of the APPG) were among members of the UK Coalition to Stop TB who today delivered an invitation to help Stop TB to Gordon Brown. The letter, delivered to 10 Downing Street, asks for Gordon Brown to step up his response to the Global TB-HIV epidemic and follow on from his action in 2006 of launching the Global Plan to Stop TB.

Members of the UK Coalition to Stop TB handing in the letter at 10 Downing Street

Andrew George MP commented "Gordon Brown launched the Global Plan to Stop TB in 2006 but still 1.6 million people are dying of this preventable disease yearly. With the worrying increase in HIV-TB co-infection rates released today, World TB Day, by the World Health Organisation it is vitally important that Gordon Brown does not let TB slip of the political agenda. The UK, along with other G8 countries, must fulfil their commitments to global health and TB".

Read the letter to Gordon Brown

Today, 24th March, marked World TB Day. It provides an opportunity to come together and highlight to the world the continuing global TB epidemic. The 2009 Global Control Report released today by the World Health Organisation is a worrying read. It suggests that the world is seeing double the numbers of HIV-TB co-infected patients as previously thought.

Within the UK it is also a day to raise awareness of how the disease affects our countries; data launched today by the Health Protection Agency indicates that the rate of TB increased by 2% in 2008.

Read HPA TB updates

Read the 2009 WHO TB control report

On 1st January, the APPG and Royal College of Nursing TB Forum launched a joint survey aimed at TB nursing staff working in the UK. The survey aims to gain opinions from nursing staff on the response and thus priority given to TB both locally and nationally. The survey runs alongside a survey currently underway from the British Thoracic Society assessing the opinions of TB consultants within the UK.

The survey RCN/APPG can be found here

A recent briefing meeting held in the House of Commons by the APPG looked at the work of the Global Task Force on TB Impact Measurement. Parliamentarians and Health professionals heard from Dr Katherine Floyd from WHO about the current worldwide epidemiology of the TB epidemic. Dr Japp Broekmans, Chair of the Taskforce, discussed current work being undertaken to strengthen TB surveillance systems globally. Also speaking was Dr Ibrahim Abubakar from the UK's Health Protection Agency who discussed ways in which the UK can use its expert knowledge and structures to assist developing countries in maximising surveillance activities.

Read more about the work of the Task Force

Andrew George MP and Julie Morgan MP, co-chairs of the APPG on Global TB recently visited Malawi to learn more about how the devastating diseases of TB and HIV affect the lives of the countries poorest sections of society. The delegation (organised by UK advocacy organisation - RESULTS) visited TB clinics in the capital Lilongwe and in rural Mzimba District. The MPs met with health staff and patients undergoing treatment for TB and HIV. They also visited the project run by UK NGO - TB Alert which seeks to train community volunteers to support patients with TB and also actively educate their communities on the dangers of delaying seeking treatment for TB.

Julie Morgan, co-chair of the APPG on Global TB and MP for Cardiff North recently visited her local TB service in Llandough Hospital to learn more about how the disease affects her local constituency. Julie met with local TB staff including TB consultant Dr Ian Campbell and Lead TB nurse - Liz Weeks. Details of the current TB trends in Cardiff and the services offered by the TB service were discussed as were current barriers identified that prevent TB in Cardiff being eliminated for good. Julie found the visit very informative and thanks the staff for their time and kind hospitality during the visit. Follow up activities are currently being carried out.

The Coordinator of the APPG on Global TB was invited to speak at the recent Royal College of Nursing's Annual Conference on TB held in central London. During last years conference, Julie Morgan MP, co-chair of the APPG, spoke about the APPGs dedication to further increase awareness of the disease within Parliament. This year, conference delegates were provided with an update of the work of the APPG. In particular the current joint RCN-APPG survey was discussed. The survey looks to gain opinions from TB nursing staff on the current state of TB services in the UK and national TB policy.

The survey can be found here

APPG co-chair Julie Morgan MP and member Doug Naysmith MP recently joined parliamentarians from Spain, Italy, Germany, US and Lithuania in attending the Global Fund to Fight AIDS TB and Malaria (GFATM) Partners Forum in Dakar, Senegal.

Doug Naysmith MP and Julie Morgan MP meeting local volunteers involved in the fight to eradicate malaria in Senegal

The parliamentarians attended seminars and workshops aimed at identifying ways to further improve the way in which the different public and private partners of the Global Fund on the national, regional and global levels work together. They also visited a Global fund supported HIV programme aimed at screening marginalised population groups. Visiting parliamentarians also attended a meeting with members of the Parliament of Senegal.

An oral question asking the Government to highlight the number of TB outbreaks that occur in London schools has been asked in the House of Lords. Baroness Sharples, an APPG on Global TB member, asked the question which was answered by Lord Darzi of Denham, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Health.

Lord Darzi explained that there were 31 TB incidents in schools (including nurseries) in 2004, 32 in 2005, 17 in 2006, 29 in 2007 and, 39 in 2008. He was not aware of the number of incidents occurring in higher educational institutions. Incidents are defined as occurrences where potential transmission to non-household contacts is identified as a public health risk warranting wider investigation.

Read the full debate

The APPG has announced that it will hold a meeting in February 2009 to focus on how progress against the MDG goal on TB is measured. The meeting entitled "Monitoring progress towards the millennium development goals: the global task force on TB impact measurement" will include presentations by Dr Katherine Floyd of the WHO's Stop TB Department, Dr Jaap Broekmans who is Chair of the Global Task Force on TB Impact Measurement and Dr Ibrahim Abubakar of the UK Health Protection Agency Centre for Infections.

Targets to reduce the global burden of TB have been set for 2015, as part of the MDGs. The principal "impact" targets are that the number of cases should be falling by 2015 and that deaths from TB should be halved by 2015 compared with a baseline of 1990. The World Health Organization (WHO) is responsible for reporting on progress towards these impact targets, and ultimately for reporting on whether or not they were achieved. To produce the best possible assessment of whether the 2015 targets are achieved, to measure progress in the years leading up to 2015 and to strengthen monitoring and evaluation at country level in the process, WHO established a Global Task Force on TB Impact Measurement in 2006.

During this meeting the latest data on the global burden of TB the global response and the strategy and current progress of WHO's Global Task Force on TB Impact Measurement will be presented. The meeting will also be used to discuss the potential contribution of the UK to the work of the Task Force, and how the UK could benefit from such collaboration.

The APPG on Global TB has become a member of the Stop TB Partnership's Global Partnership to Stop TB. The Stop TB Partnership, called the Stop TB Initiative at the time of its inception, was established in 1998. Its aim is to realize the goal of eliminating TB as a public health problem and, ultimately, to obtain a world free of TB. It comprises a network of international organisations, countries, donors from the public and private sectors, governmental and nongovernmental organisations and individuals that have expressed an interest in working together to achieve this goal.

For more information on the Stop TB Partnership visit their Website

The APPG on Global TB and the AIDS APPG, supported by the UK Coalition to Stop TB, co-hosted a meeting in Parliament aimed at Parliamentarians and staff of NGOs. The meeting looked to inform participants of the link between HIV and TB and discuss what action needs to be taken to scale up efforts to tackle the two diseases. Dr Paul Nunn from the World Health Organisation spoke about the work of the WHO - their guidance, policies and resources and the urgent need to integrate TB and HIV services.

Ezio Tavora dos Santos - Filho, an activist and researcher from Brazil also spoke about his personal experiences and the need to engage civil society in the fight against TB and HIV.

A recent meeting held by the APPG on Global TB focused on TB in hard-to-reach groups in London. Members of Parliament and TB experts discussed activities currently being done to prevent, diagnose and treat TB in these groups (including individuals with drug and alcohol issues, the homeless, prisoners and recent migrants) and what still needs to be done to ensure they receive adequate and focused services to their specific needs.

Read the meeting briefing paper

The APPG has announced that its next meeting in Parliament will focus on how to engage, treat and prevent TB in hard-to-reach groups. Speakers and participants will discuss activities currently being undertaken to address TB in the homeless, problem drug and alcohol user and prison populations; plus what still needs to done to address the issues. The meeting will take place on Tuesday October 14th, 1.30-3pm in Committee Room 7 in the House of Commons, London.

The APPG has joined the UK coalition to Stop TB group which aims to "increase the level of awareness, commitment and political will to stop TB through a unified voice and coordinated actions". The Coalition will operate through smaller working groups towards specific outcomes. The initial working groups will look at mobilising resources for TB, TB in the UK, HIV-TB coinfection, drug resistance and new tools.

For more information on the Coalition contact The Coalition Coordinator (louise@results-uk.org)

The APPG on Global TB co-arranged a day-long TB symposium at the recent Health Protection Agency Conference at Warwick University. Doug Naysmith MP, an active member of the APPG, co-chaired a session examining national and international perspectives of TB which included a presentation by Mario Raviglione, Head of the Stop TB Department at the World Health Organisation. Mr Naysmith praised the HPA for focusing on TB and saw it as a sign of the increased importance given to TB. He also stated that it was essential that TB continued to be considered a priority public health issue if the world is to reduce the 2 million unnecessary TB deaths that occur each year.

The House Of Lords Select Committee on Intergovernmental Organisations today released its report "Diseases know no frontiers: How effective are Intergovernmental Organisations in controlling their spread?". The report was published following a period of evidence gathering including written and oral evidence from Government Ministers, NGOs and Civil Society Organisations.

The report included a section on TB and HIV/AIDs and heard evidence from TB experts from the World Health Organisation, Stop TB Partnership and UK civil society. It called for the government to take the lead in ensuring adequate resources are targeted towards the Millennium Development Goals during the upcoming high-level UN meeting.

Recommendations of the report include urging the Government to "achieve a balance between vertical and horizontal health programmes" and increase the priority given to antimicrobial resistance (including TB).

Importantly, the report also states that "the Government should ...satisfy itself, before committing funds to fight (HIV and TB) in developing countries that there is adequate local recognition of the problem of TB-HIV co-infection and that there are sound programmes in place to address it."

The Government is expected to formally reply to the report in the next two months.

In March 2008, Co-chair of the APPG, Andrew George MP wrote to the new President of the World Bank - The Honourable Robert Zoellick stating his hope that the President would help to focus TB control measures in Africa and ensure more money is available for this purpose.

Vice President of the African Region, Obiageli Ezekwesili responded to the letter stating that the Africa Region had renewed its commitment to TB and is actively scaling up its TB control. The Vice President also announced that the World Bank is currently developing a plan to strengthen the regional laboratory network in Africa to address drug-resistant TB and improving diagnosis of co-infected people.

Read the full response

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.

See full press release

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.

APPG Co-chair Julie Morgan MP with Dr Marc Lipman and John Macfarlane of the BTS

Read the full debate on Hansard

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

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.”

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.

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 full press release

APPG Co-Chair Andrew George MP and Kenyan TB/HIV activist Lucy Chesire met with two representatives from the World Bank to discuss the World Bank's role in fighting TB Africa.

The meeting in Parliament with Joy Phumaphi, Vice President of the Human Development Network and Christian Baeza, Acting Head of Health, Nutrition and Population followed correspondence between the APPG and World Bank about the need for an accelerated response to the TB emergency in Africa.

Read the APPG's correspondence with the World Bank.

Members of the APPG met with Dr. Jerald C. Sadoff, President and CEO of Aeras Global TB Vaccine Foundation to discuss the need for a new TB vaccine and Aeras' role in its development and delivery.

Download the minutes of the meeting.

The APPG on Global Tuberculosis has released its paper Scaling Up the UK's Response to the Global TB Epidemic: An Agenda for Action. Click here to download the report.

MPs call for accelerated response to global TB epidemic: All-Party Parliamentary Group launches 'Agenda for Action' ahead of World TB Day. Read the APPG's press release.

Rt. Hon Hilary Benn MP, Secretary of State for the International Development has signed a statement in support of the Global Plan to Stop TB around World TB Day 2007. Click here to read the full statement.