Redhotcurry - Health. A R Rahman becomes Ambassador for the 'Stop TB' Campaign

India's pre-eminent musician/composer A.R Rahman was today formally announced as the first Global Ambassador of the Stop TB Partnership. Composer of the hit musical "Bombay Dreams", Rahman has been dubbed the "Mozart of Madras" for his prodigious output and musical genius. Nearly 9 million people now develop TB (tuberculosis) and 2 million die of the disease worldwide every year, making it one of the three greatest killer diseases today.

In a press briefing at the House of Commons, organised by the Stop TB Partnership, which is hosted by the World Health Organisation (WHO), TB Alert and RESULTS UK, Rahman spoke of his concern about the global crisis and his decision to support the cause: "Most people in industrialised countries think tuberculosis is a thing of the past. But we are actually in the throes of the largest TB epidemic in history, with more people sick and dying from the disease than ever before. It is urgent we break the public silence about that. TB is completely curable with the cost-effective DOTS treatment strategy, and everything possible must be done to ensure universal access to it. This is more than just a matter for ministries of health - we need to move whole societies in the fight. And I have accepted the role of Global Ambassador to help spread that message."

Dr. Marcos Espinal, Executive Secretary of the Stop TB Partnership, said of Rahman's appointment: "DOTS is one of the great public health success stories of the past decade, having treated 13 million patients since WHO declared TB a Global Emergency in 1993. Yet this tremendous achievement has only slowed the growth of the epidemic."

In two weeks' time, Rahman will deliver his personal message in India to the second Stop TB Partners' Forum, a major international gathering of donors, technical agencies, non-governmental organisations and ministerial delegations from 22 high TB burden countries, to be held in New Delhi on 24th-25th March. India has the largest number of TB cases with 28% of the global burden. After a century in decline, tuberculosis has even made a worrying comeback in Britain. Numbers have been rising since 1987 and there are now around 7,300 active cases every year.

Much of the rise is focused on London where numbers of TB cases have doubled over the past 15 years. In 1987 London cases accounted for only 14 per cent of the national total. By 2001 this had risen to 40 per cent with nearly 3,000 new cases of the disease. Some London boroughs with large Asian communities, notably Newham, Brent and Ealing, have particularly worrying rates of TB.

Gareth Thomas MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Department for International Development, highlighted the British contribution to the global fight against TB. He said: "the UK is committed to playing its full part to control tuberculosis, and I hope that together with Stop TB, and with dedicated individuals such as Mr Rahman, we will be able to draw the attention - and resources - that will make a real impact. Thanks to the Stop TB Partnership we have a strong global plan to Stop TB. We have treatment strategies, and increasingly we understand how to overcome the barriers poor people and women face in accessing services. But we do need to accelerate progress in putting services in place. We need to work more closely with HIV programmes, and with private sector services - which themselves are very diverse - since they are the point of first call for many people in developing countries. "

Click here to read about Sunita Jaswal's personal case study of TB.
For further information on the Stop TB Partnership.
For further information about WHO's TB Programme

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