Saturday, March 24, is officially World TB Day but there has been a stream of activities, publications, news and messages to let the world not forget about this major infectious disease killer that claims millions of lives each year.
Events
- On March 7 and 13, the CORE Group sponsored two webinars on pediatric TB which fit well within the focus on childhood TB for this World TB Day. You can access both webinars at http://coregroup.org/resources/webinars.
- March 16, TB Alliance sponsored “U.S. Advocates Workshop on TB Research and Development” at the Gates Foundation Office in Washington, D.C. The objectives of the meeting were to develop messages for TB research and identify opportunities to communicate them, and to align advocacy strategies to enable R&D issues to be incorporated into ongoing TB advocacy. There were representatives from Aeras, American Thoracic Society, AVAC, Global Health Council, Research!America, RESULTS, Treatment Action Group, and others. For more information contact Heather Ignatius, heather.ignatius@tballiance.org.
- March 19, the Critical Path to TB Drug Regiments (CPTR) sponsored the event “Cure All: A briefing on the most promising TB drug research.” Click here to read a summary of the event on the blog. Video, photos, and slide presentations of the event can be found at http://cptrinitiative.org/.
- March 21, The TB Elimination Caucus in the House of Representative launched with over 80 people in attendance including 35 congressional staffers. The caucus is sponsored by Congressman Elliott Engel (NY), Congressman Don Young (Alaska), and Congressman Gene Greene (Texas). The three Congressmen spoke of strong interest in continued U.S. funding for TB and ideas of gaining greater support for TB in the U.S. Congress. Click here for additional coverage.
Go to http://www.newtbdrugs.org/meetings.php to find out about other upcoming events in TB.
Publications
- Blueprint for TB Vaccine Development. You can learn more about the blueprint at TBVI and Aeras websites.
- NO MORE CRYING, NO MORE DYING. Towards zero TB deaths in children
- Prevention, Diagnosis, and Treatment of Tuberculosis in Children and Mothers: Evidence for Action for Maternal, Neonatal, and Child Health Services
Special Announcements
- Stopping TB in our lifetime–Activists launch new effort to fight tuberculosis in Africa
- TB Alliance Launches Combination Drug Trial, Establishes New Pathway to TB and MDR-TB Treatment
- TB Alliance and CSIR-OSDD Partner to Support TB Drug Development in India
- Journals give access to TB articles
World TB Day Messages
Additional Coverage
- Fail to Scale: the cost of thinking small in fight against TB
- Tuberculosis in 2012 (Infographics by Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF))
- World TB Day: Twelve new tuberculosis vaccines in clinical testing phase
- Latest TB Statistics Inspire Optimism
- Funding cuts put 3.4 million TB patients at risk: NGOs