Mayor Could Help Halt TB Surge Before Olympics, says London Health Tsar
Written by admin on Thursday, July 1, 2010 18:13
IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thurs 1 July
Press Contacts: Helen Clegg, TB Alert 01273 234030/ 07949 675033
Jack O’Sullivan, Race for Health 07779 655585
A SURGE IN TUBERCULOSIS cases threatens to embarrass Britain during the Olympics unless the Mayor of London supports the battle against the disease, according to a senior NHS leader.
The call for Boris Johnson to help comes as new cases in Britain (9153 in 2009) are set to exceed the entire United States, which itself faced an epidemic in the 1990s until the Mayor of New York took charge and cut the infection rate.
Nick Relph, charged with overhauling London’s TB services, said: ‘We are hosting the Olympics in two years, yet we have got more than 3,000 new cases a year of tuberculosis in London alone. This is a very serious situation that needs strong political leadership to get everyone working together.
‘We have seen the attention that poverty and ill-health has received in South Africa, alongside the glamour of the World Cup. We need to set our own house in order before the Olympics throw a similar spotlight on our capital.’
Mr Relph, Chair of London TB Commissioning and Chief Executive of Hounslow PCT, was speaking at the Race Against Tuberculosis conference in London, hosted by Race for Health and TB Alert and attended by nearly 100 NHS and local government senior managers in charge of TB services.
He added: ‘Within three months we will have an action plan that I want the Mayor to back. We need him to make sure that no more time is wasted tackling a disease that most people thought has disappeared in Britain in the last century.’
If the current 20 year trend for increasing TB cases continues (UK TB cases rose by 5.5 per cent in 2009), Britain is due to overtake the US (which has five times our population) by 2014. The disease kills about 350 people a year in Britain. Symptoms include a persistent cough, fever, tiredness, night sweats, weight loss and lack of appetite.
Tuberculosis is a curable disease, provided it is treated early enough with a drug regime that may last for two and a half years. However, Mr Relph told the conference that when he recently surveyed primary care trusts to find out how much they were spending on tuberculosis control, only one in six were able to provide a figure.
The rise in the numbers of UK cases is due to a host of factors including late diagnosis and low levels of coordination between services to ensure that those who develop the disease complete the required drug treatments. Many cases occur among Britain’s black and minority ethnic population, usually years after they have settled in Britain; many of these people have poor access to healthcare and this situation is exacerbated by the low priority that the disease is given within the NHS.
Professor Helen Hally, National Director of Race for Health, said: ‘Tackling TB properly needs firm commitment to challenging race inequality. It demonstrates how dealing with inequality can be the most cost effective way of improving health for everyone. This is a mainstream, not a side, issue.’
Mike Mandelbaum, Chief Executive of TB Alert, said:
“TB is closely associated with health inequalities among BME and other key population groups. The “Race Against Tuberculosis” conference is an important part of TB Alert’s work to forge strong local partnerships between the statutory and voluntary sectors. This is a key part of the national TB Action Plan, so as to ensure people access treatment quickly and that onward transmission of TB is reduced.”
Notes to Editors:
The Race Against Tuberculosis conference was held at the King’s Fund Centre, London and hosted by Race for Health and TB Alert on 30 June 2010.
TB Alert is the key partner of the Department of Health in raising awareness about TB. In February 2010, TB Alert launched The Truth About TB campaign. The campaign brings together PCTs, local government, the voluntary sector and communities affected with TB, to encourage and support a partnership approach to raising awareness locally: thetruthabouttb.org. For more information contact: Helen Clegg Helen.clegg@tbalert.org 01273 234030, 07949 675033.
Race for Health, sponsored by the Department of Health, is at the cutting edge of good practice around race equality and health. TB is one of seven condition groups against which member PCTs measure their performance www.raceforhealth.org. For more information contact: Jack O’Sullivan jack@think-osullivan.com 07779 655585.
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