World TB Day 2006 Toolkit

Theme

Aims

The aim of World TB Day 2006 is to mobilize support for the fight against TB. By mobilizing communities, raising awareness, encouraging governments and donors to invest in TB control, and calling for strengthened commitment, we can ensure that TB is placed prominently on the global agenda and is eliminated by 2050.

In order to accelerate social and political action to stop the unnecessary spread of TB around the world, World TB Day 06 aims to:

• Engage government and donor agencies for strengthened commitment
• Promote TB control and care
• Serve as an advocacy and educational opportunity
• Increase public awareness, engagement and support in the fight against TB
• Place TB higher on the international agenda

Call to Stop TB Campaign

In the run-up to World TB Day 2006 this week, civil society groups have launched the "Call to Stop TB", a web-driven campaign to generate commitment among world leaders, governments, civil society, corporations and individuals to support the Global Plan to Stop TB 2006-2015. The Call is an opportunity for all concerned to voice their conviction that TB must be addressed to prevent needless deaths and alleviate poverty. Endorsements of the Call to Stop TB will support advocacy efforts at all levels and be presented at key political events throughout the period leading up to World TB Day 2007, in order to raise the profile of TB on political and development agendas.

WE CALL on world leaders, governments, organizations, civil society, corporations and individuals to endorse, fully fund and implement the Global Plan to Stop TB 2006-2015.

• BECAUSE each year nearly 2 million people die and 9 million people become sick with TB, and because TB infects one-third of the world's population.
• BECAUSE TB is a global pandemic and an emergency in Africa and the European region.
• BECAUSE TB is the biggest killer of people with HIV/AIDS and multi-drug resistant forms of TB are a threat around the globe.
• BECAUSE TB is curable.
• BECAUSE the Stop TB strategy is getting results.
• BECAUSE 14 million more lives can be saved over the next 10 years.
• BECAUSE treating and curing people with tuberculosis prevents the spread of the disease, reduces poverty, strengthens health systems, engages all care providers and empowers those affected.
• BECAUSE new vaccines, drugs and diagnostics to Stop TB are urgently needed.
• BECAUSE access to TB treatment is a human right.
• BECAUSE TB can be eliminated by 2050 if we take action now.
• FOR THESE 10 REASONS, we commit ourselves, through our actions, to a world free of TB.

STOP TB - SAVE LIVES.

Your support is crucial to the success of this campaign. To find out how you can become involved visit www.calltostoptb.org .

INDIA: TB and HIV Report

Tuberculosis situation in country

• India currently has the highest burden of TB in the world. Globally, 8.8 million new cases of TB occur annually, of which 1.8 million (one fifth) occur in India.
• About 40% of the adult population in India is estimated to be already infected with the TB bacteria. About 10% of those infected may develop the disease in their life time. This risk is significantly increased if the person is co-infected with HIV. Despite a recent decline in deaths, the mortality remains substantial. In addition, the disease causes enormous social and economic losses.
• India has made remarkable progress in expanding the internationally recommended DOTS strategy to 97% of the country. The challenge is to sustain good quality services, widen the reach through involvement of a wider network of health care providers, and deal with newer challenges posed by TB/HIV co-infection and drug resistance.
• More must be done to help reach the poor and underserved areas in India, where more than 1,000 people die from TB every day. Together, we can do even more to combat this disease that often drives families into poverty.”

HIV Situation in country

• The 4.58 million HIV infections estimated in 2002 saw an increase of 6.1 lakh HIV infections over those estimated in 2001 (3.97 million). In the year 2003 we noted an increase of 5.3 lakhs HIV infections (5.1 million - 4.58 million), over those of the previous year
• 45 districts in the high prevalence states of Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Manipur, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Nagaland have been identified as high prevalence districts, based on the consistently high prevalence levels of HIV detected by the three most recent rounds of HIV Sentinel Surveillance.
• The states of Gujarat, Goa and Pondicherry which share geographical borders with the high prevalence states report HIV prevalence exceeding 5 percent among high-risk groups but less than 1 percent among antenatal women.  Four districts in these states have been identified as high prevalence districts.
• AIDS is affecting mainly young people in the sexually active age group. The majority of the HIV infections (87.7%) are in the age group of 15-44 years.
• The predominant mode of transmission of infection in the AIDS patients is through heterosexual contact (85.7%), followed by Injecting drug use (2.2%), blood   transfusion and blood product infusion (2.6%), perinatal transmission as 2.7% and  others as 6.8%.
• In the HIV sentinel surveillance, 2003, males account for 73.5% of AIDS cases   and females 26.5%. The ratio being
• The most predominant opportunistic infection among AIDS patients is tuberculosis,   indicating a potential future high spread of the HIV-TB co-infection.

Source: http://www.nacoonline.org/facts_overview.htm

Information that you can use:

• Guidelines for Social Mobilization: Planning World TB Day (PDF)
  World Health Organization has prepared a step-by-step guide that can help you to plan for World TB Day 2006. http://www.stoptb.org/events/world_tb_day/2000/tbguide.pdf
• Community care for tuberculosis
  In many places, access to health care is difficult and there are not enough health workers, so we need to look at other approaches, outside the clinic and hospital setting, to make TB care more widely available. There is growing interest in the role of communities in TB control. http://www.who.int/tb/dots/commcare/en/index.html
• Public-Private Mix for DOTS Expansion (PPM DOTS)
  While private providers manage an unknown but substantial proportion of TB suspects and cases, these rarely get notified to the National TB Programmes (NTP). Studies in many countries have documented uneven TB management practices of private providers.
  http://www.who.int/tb/dots/ppm/en/index.html
• Speak Your World Primer: Fighting TB on the front lines (PDF)
  Key findings and recommendations on the crucial role played by front-line health workers in TB control.
  http://www.hdnet.org/library/TB_primer.pdf
• Guidelines for HIV surveillance among tuberculosis patients (PDF)
  http://whqlibdoc.who.int/hq/2004/WHO_HTM_TB_2004.339.pdf
• TB advocacy - A practical guide 1999 (PDF)
  http://whqlibdoc.who.int/hq/1998/WHO_TB_98.239.pdf
• World TB Day Poster 1
  http://www.stoptb.org/events/world_tb_day/2006/materials.asp

Useful Links:

• Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme
  http://www.tbcindia.org/
• Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention
  http://www.cdc.gov/nchstp/tb/WorldTBDay/2006/introduction.htm
• Stop TB Partnership
  http://www.stoptb.org/events/world_tb_day/2006/
• World Health Organisation, Tuberculosis Home Page
  http://www.who.int/tb/en/
• Global Plan to Stop TB (2006-2015)
  http://www.stoptb.org/globalplan/
• AIDS Care Watch Campaign
  http://www.aidscarewatch.org/
• Call to Stop TB Campaign
  www.calltostoptb.org