RESULTS Australia: World TB Day 2013

Andrew Wilke MP with RESULTS in Canberra 2013

Each year, March 24th marks World TB Day. It’s a timely moment to renew our commitment to getting to zero TB deaths within our lifetime. While we have the knowledge about what is needed to defeat this disease, it will require a huge effort to get there. We need to reach vulnerable populations, who are often most at risk of contracting TB and missing out on much needed diagnosis and treatment. We also need increased investment into much needed new TB drugs, diagnostics and a vaccine. This infectious and deadly disease, while thought by many to be a thing of the past, still claims around 1.5 million lives a year. In 2011, 8.7 million new cases of TB were detected.

RESULTS  has been busy with activities for World TB Day! We were in Canberra meeting with MPs and Senators the week before World TB Day, where we spoke with a number of parliamentarians about TB, and asked them to hang posters in their parliament house office windows. RESULTS Australia designed and printed four posters to increase awareness of the importance of the Global Fund to defeat HIV, TB and Malaria in the Asia Pacific, particularly given the $11 million shortfall to Australia’s commitment to the Global Fund this year. It is also a replenishment year for the Global Fund, so awareness of the critical role the Global Fund plays in our region is very important. Did you know that in 2012, 100% of TB program funding in Laos, 92% in Indonesia and 89% in Papua New Guinea came from the Global Fund?

Dr Mark Dybul, Executive Director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria holding one of RESULTS' posters

We worked with Greens Senator Lee Rhiannon to table a motion in the Senate, emphasising the need for increased financing for Research and Development for TB, and support for the Global Fund in addressing Tuberculosis around the world and in our region.

It was also encouraging to see Teresa Gambaro make a speech in the House to mark World TB Day that supported our asks around TB in the region, calling for strong support for the Global Fund and zero TB deaths in our region.

Plenty of media was also generated by RESULTS to mark this day. Maree Nutt, our national manager, was interviewed by four radio stations: 2GB, 2SM, 2UE and ABC radio news, where she provided comments on TB and the importance of the Global Fund to defeating TB.

We also had an Op Ed in Online Opinion. Maree Nutt highlighted that the Asia Pacific is home to 60% of world TB cases, and that tragic deaths such as Catherina Abraham’s from multi-drug resistant TB are avoidable if TB is given adequate attention and resources. Again, the imperative role of the Global Fund in tackling this disease was noted.