Entries related to "TB"

Zambian Activist Spreads TB Message in Ann Arbor

World TB Day got a pre-season boost from Carol Nawina Nyirenda when she visited Ann Arbor in early March and engaged in a whirlwind of presentations in the community and at the University of Michigan.

The Global Fund's Funding Gap

Based on its achievements, in 2007 the Global Fund board of directors (which includes the U.S.) agreed to expand the size of the Global Fund to up to $8 billion per year by 2010, subject to the submission of quality proposals. This decision was reaffirmed by donor countries at the 2007 G8 Summit in Heiligendamm, Germany.

TB is the child of poverty — and also its parent and provider.

— Archbishop Desmond Tutu

XDR-TB sounds a clamorous warning: without the political will to control TB, we will not only fail to defeat HIV but may enable the rise of an incurable, airborne disease.

— Desmond Tutu

New Tools to Fight TB

Detection, Drugs, and Vaccines

Domestic TB

While RESULTS focuses on the global TB epidemic, TB (or “consumption,” as our grandparents called it) is still a health threat in the U.S., especially among the poor.

Fighting TB in the Community

In her second blog from the codel, Jen reports on a community-based care program in a poor area of Zambia's capital that reaches out to those co-infected with TB-HIV.

Take Action

Investments to fight TB come from a variety of sources, including bilateral aid programs, multilateral funding agents, and endemic countries’ domestic resources. These funding sources vary substantially in both amount and quality. A recent increase in investments has helped to bolster the fight against TB, but additional resources must be mobilized to continue progress. Advocacy aimed both at increasing the flow of resources from external sources and expanding domestic investment in TB in endemic countries is required to realize a world without TB.

Publications: REF and ACTION Partners

Review a complete list of RESULTS Educational Fund’s ACTION partner publications.

Living With HIV, Dying of TB: The Response of Global AIDS Donors to the Co-epdemic

ACTION (March 2009)
This report details how key global AIDS and health institutions are failing to address TB-HIV co-infection around the world. Includes critiques of the World Bank; the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria; the UK Department for International Development; and the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.

MDR-TB Photos Displayed in U.S. Capitol

It is one thing to tell members of Congress about the suffering caused by deadly diseases like tuberculosis in the world’s poorest countries. It is another thing to bring graphic evidence of the horror of TB to the esteemed halls of the greatest legislative building in the country. . . .

How the Media Can Impact Policy

The second joint plenary of the day treated us to a session with John Donnelly and Glenn Thomas, who presented their work to us on Airborne, a photojournalism project produced by the World Health Organization that looks at drug-resistant TB. John Donnelly is a renowned global health journalist who has previously written for the Boston Globe. Glenn Thomas is the communications officer of the WHO Stop TB Partnership.

RESULTS Educational Fund Executive Director Joanne Carter Appointed to Global Fund Board!

Joanne Carter, executive director of RESULTS, was recently selected for the position of Board Member for the Developed Country NGO Delegation to the Global Fund Board. While an exciting moment in time for those that are a part of RESULTS, Carter's appointment to the Board is an opportunity for all NGOs to have a tremendous impact in the fight against AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria.

TB Patient Activist Lucy Chesire Shares Her Story in DC

Last week there were 45 people sitting in my living room listening like school children to their teacher at story time. Our teacher was Lucy Chesire, the first Kenyan woman to come out as an HIV-positive health care worker in her country in the mid-1990s. She works with KANCO — Kenyan AIDS NGO Consortium — a partner organization of RESULTS. Lucy is an internationally-known patient advocate for HIV/TB and has first-hand experience with the deadly synergy between these diseases.

You Did It! 98 Representatives Signed the FY11 Global Fund Letter to Obama!

Congratulations! In a little over a week, RESULTS rallied to get 98 representatives — more than 20 percent of the House — to sign a letter initiated by Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) to President Obama, calling on him to provide $1.75 billion for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria in his fiscal year 2011 budget. The power of your collective action has impressed members of Congress and other advocacy organizations, none of whom were expecting such an amazing list. With so many signers, the letter will also impress the administration as well.

ACTION Partners Call on Obama to Help Finish the Job on AIDS, TB and Malaria

Hundreds of Kenyans rallied at a major international malaria conference in Nairobi today to urge U.S. President Barack Obama to show leadership in the fight against AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria.

REF and ACTION Congratulate Lucy Chesire for Winning the 2009 Kochon Award

RESULTS partner and TB patient-activist Lucy Chesire recently won the 2009 Kochon Award for her distinguished achievements and advocacy in fighting tuberculosis.

15 Years of DOTS Has Saved 8 Million Lives

New data from the World Health Organization (WHO) demonstrate the success and promise of effective tuberculosis (TB) control programs. Since the WHO embraced the DOTS strategy in 1994, 36 million people have been cured of TB and 8 million deaths have been averted.

New Global Fund Report: 4.9 Million Lives Saved

According to a new report released today by the Global Fund to Fights AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, as of December 2009, the Global Fund has saved 4.9 million lives, and continues to save at least 3,600 lives each day.

"Nuestra Casa" Educates, Impresses Conference Participants

Nuestra Casa — a three-dimensional mobile house that reflects the life and stories of Mexicans and Americans affected by tuberculosis — took a prominent location at the 40th Union World Conference on Lung Health at the Exhibition Hall early December in Cancun, Mexico.

Obama’s FY 2011 Budget Disappoints in Global Health, TB Programs

President Obama’s proposed FY 2011 budget involves a $50 million cut to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. When it comes to saving lives of people affected by these three diseases and preventing future spread, the Global Fund is one of the most successful funding mechanisms currently available.

World TB Day Resources

Resources for Grassroots to use on World TB Day

Media Call in California

RESULTS is supporting a statewide media call for California on Tuesday, March 23.

Albuquerque RESULTS Generates Media on Tuberculosis

The Albuquerque RESULTS Global Group has hosted some special visitors recently and reached out to the media.

AIDS-TB Activist Albertina Nyatsi from Swaziland Visits Dallas

A visit by HIV/AIDS and TB activist Albertina Nyatsi from Swaziland to Dallas was a success!

Revolutionary Breakthrough in TB Testing

On December 8, the World Health Organization endorsed Xpert MTB/RIF, a revolutionary new technology that, if taken to scale in endemic countries, could completely change the public health approach to diagnosing and treating tuberculosis (TB), which remains one of the greatest killers on the planet.

Have Training, Will Travel: New Allies in our Tuberculosis Work

Invite a newly minted media trainee to partner in your group's advocacy work for the end of tuberculosis

The Rise of Totally Drug-Resistant TB

Andrew Speaker caused an international incident in 2007 when he boarded an international flight while infected with XDR-TB, a form of tuberculosis resistant to most available drugs. It was terrifying to imagine what could have happened if the flight had taken off. Was there anything scarier than flying next to a person with extensively resistant TB?

Outreach Is the Only Way to Generate New Voices

Our members of Congress find themselves in a bind — even if they believe in foreign aid programs, they fear backlash from their constituents. They are desperate for grassroots and grasstops constituent support on our issues. We must generate more voices and educate the public. Schedule an outreach workshop in March. Contact your grassroots staff or RCs for support. Here are some ideas and resources for you to help build new voices in your community!

A Breakthrough in the Fight Against TB

Read this blog post from Joanne Carter, RESULTS/REF Executive Director, that appeared on the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation blog for World TB Day.

Waking Tigers, Fighting TB: Atlanta's World TB Day Events

In Atlanta, Georgia we've formed quite the TB Team. We're a diverse coalition; passionate enough to organize a massive crowd in support of TB and rowdy enough to wake sleeping tigers. No, really! This past Saturday, all these great groups gathered at the Atlanta Zoo - RESULTS, the National Tuberculosis Controllers Association, Morehouse School of Medicine, Emory University, the American Lung Association, Cobb County Health Department, Fulton County Health Department, and the Center for Disease and Control - to put on the 5th Annual TB Awareness walk.

A Visit to Spelman College

Community connections of all types are important to our work.

AIDS Study Reveals Treatment IS Prevention

A new study on HIV positive patients and their partners reveals that early treatment with antiretroviral drugs actual prevents the sexual transmission of HIV up to 96 percent. This is a game changer on how to stop and halt this deadly disease!

Chehera: The Human Face of TB

It would be simpler to deal with tuberculosis if it just attacked the lungs and bodies of its victims, but TB takes an even heavier toll on the heart and mind of those who contract it. In India, the stigma and isolation are symptoms just as painful as the coughing and emaciation. The emotional toll of the disease is rarely conveyed to those who don’t experience it personally. Last year, on World TB Day, ACTION Partner Global Health Advocates India worked with the Art for Change Foundation and the Confederation of Indian Industries to bring 22 artists into firsthand experience with the human toll of TB and paint what they saw. The resulting ‘Chehera: The Human Face of TB’ Exhibition takes viewers on a emotional whirlwind through the horrors and hopes of life with TB.

Zambian Patient Activist Carol Nyirenda's Moving RESULTS International Conference Speech

Zambian activist and patient advocate Carol Nyirenda delivered the following speech at RESULTS 2011 International Conference donor luncheon: "Thank you for having me. This is the second International Conference (IC) that I am attending and it is always great to be here among the RESULTS family, where I always feel at home. In 2001, when I lost my husband, I too fell ill after his death and was bedridden for months. I had very little hope of getting well especially when I was told after a biopsy taken that I had a skin cancer called Karposis Sarcoma. Little did I know that this was just the beginning of many years of pain and helplessness. I later developed a dry cough which, after many X-ray tests and going back and forth to the health centre, was finally diagnosed as Extrapulmonary Tuberculosis. Because I was getting little response from the treatment, I was then tested for HIV and confirmed to be positive."

RESULTS Executive Director Joanne Carter's Full-length Speech from the International Conference

Joanne Carter, executive director of RESULTS and RESULTS Educational Fund, gave the following speech at the opening ceremony of the 2011 International Conference: “Welcome, everyone. First, thank you for your commitment that got you here: the long distances you traveled — from Australia, India, Kenya, Zambia, from Alaska and Western Canada — and, also all the hurdles of life and of economics that you overcame to get here. It’s an expression of your profound commitment to a just and humane and flourishing world that you’re here, and of your commitment to each other and to supporting this community of caring and of action to end poverty.

RESULTS International Conference As Experienced by a New Staffer

The RESULTS 2011 International Conference (IC) also marked my first days on RESULTS staff and an intense first week it was (a special thank you to caffeine: you proved very necessary during the brimming four days and to those fighting jetlag). One of the first things that strike an IC newbie is the dedication and self-sacrifice of RESULTS’ and ACTION’s partners, staff, donors, and grassroots teams that come from around the world to discuss the work we are doing in communities locally and globally. Calling them an impressive bunch is an understatement. Sunday began bright and early with informative and thoughtful pre-Conference sessions presented by ACTION and RESULTS/REF D.C. staffers Mandy Slutsker (“TB’S Impact on Women and Children”) and Sarah Beardmore and Jen Maurer (“Education for All: Focus on Women”). These were great introductions to — or perhaps reminders of — not only the literally life-changing work RESULTS and ACTION do, but the unfortunate lack of current focus on Tuberculosis as a disease that affects large numbers of women and children.

A Message from CORE Group’s Pediatric TB Interest Group

When I first got involved in the global TB world about eight years ago, one of my first questions was “Why don’t TB programs treat children with TB?” I was told basically, from a public health perspective, it was because children aren’t infectious. Well, as a mother of three, that rationale would not work for me if one of my children had TB. In fact, of course children with TB are treated in the U.S. It’s a different story for children in low-income countries that are always at the back of the line for everything, TB care being no exception.

Media Gurus for the Global Fund

With the media momentum gaining, we can’t stop now! Send the editors of your paper’s editorial page the current editorial packet and call on them to write on the issue. Respond to articles using the Global Action Sheet. We need more Gurus for Good like you in action.

Media Call with Jeffrey Sachs and Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus

It's the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria's 10th Birthday and while there are many successes to celebrate, now is a critical time for the Fund. This week, RESULTS' Executive Director, Joanne Carter, hosted economist Jeffrey Sachs and Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus, Ethiopia's Minister of Health and the former chair of the Global Fund, on a media call to bring attention the funding crisis the Global Fund faces. Joanne opened the call by speaking about the urgent need for the U.S. to lead on this issue.

10 Years On, Funding Crisis Threatens the Global Fund's Effort to End AIDS

Read Joanne Carter's Huffington Post's article on the Global Fund to Fight, AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria's 10 year anniversary and the current funding crisis.

What do Surprised Kitty, Talking Baby Twins, Bill Gates, and Bono all have in common?

They are all YouTube sensations! Check out the great video by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB, and Malaria that highlights the impact of 10 years of life-saving work.