Dear TB Controller or Health Official:
Below is a template that will give you a starting point for drafting an
Op-ed for your local paper around World TB Day. At the IUATLD NAR Conference in San Diego we talked about the importance of our
participation in TB advocacy. Nobody can tell TB stories like you can,
and if you don’t tell them, nobody will.
Here’s how you can use this template:
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Contact your local paper’s editorial page editor. You can find
the name of these people on your newspaper’s website, in a
hard copy of the paper, on through this on line resource:
http://capwiz.com/results/dbq/media/. Let them know who you
are and that you would like to submit an Op-ed for World TB
Day. In most cases they will welcome your submission.
Modify the attached template to your liking and insert a story of
TB treatment (protecting the identity of anyone involved), and
state and local statistics.
If you feel comfortable with what you have created, submit it to
your local paper.
If you want someone to proofread your piece, the folks at
RESULTS have agreed to make suggestions. You can contact
Steve Valk (valkano@comcast.net), Robyn Shepherd
(rshepherd@results.org), or Ken Patterson
(kpatterson@results.org).
TB is starting to get some attention, so we need to capitalize on this
opportunity to let our communities know that TB is an awful thing by
describing it to them in detail and articulating the threat.
Please contact me with any questions.
RESULTS Volunteer’s Name
Let’s stop TB and breathe a little easier
By [NAME HERE]
Take a deep breath. Inhale and expand your lungs to full capacity. Now let the air out
slowly.
Simple as it seems, nearly 9 million people around the world this year will struggle to
accomplish this task. That’s because they will be sick with tuberculosis. A million and a
half people will die from a disease that many take for granted as easily treated. As we
observe World TB Day this March 24, it’s important to remember that these deaths are
preventable. We’ve possessed a cure for TB for more than half a century.
As a TB controller, I witness firsthand the misery this disease inflicts on its victims and
their families.
[INSERT STORY HERE OF PERSON YOU’VE KNOWN WITH TB, CHANGING
THE NAME TO PROTECT IDENTITY]
[NAME OF PERSON IN STORY]’s story is not all that uncommon. Here in [YOUR
STATE] there were [INSERT NUMBER] cases of tuberculosis in 2007 [2006 IF 2007
FIGURES AREN’T AVAILABLE]. While few [OR NONE] of these local cases are
fatal, the cost and inconvenience is substantial. Patients lose income from the time they
are unable to work. The cost of treatment ranges from thousands of dollars for normal TB
to hundreds of thousands for strains that are drug-resistant. In each case, people exposed
to the patient have to be tested for TB.
In other parts of the world, TB is far more than an inconvenience. It is an oppressive
presence that chokes the life from its often-poor victims and chokes the economies of
impoverished nations struggling to achieve prosperity. In fact, the World Bank estimates
that in sub-Saharan Africa, an investment in TB treatment and detection of about $20
billion would have an economic benefit of $218 billion by saving people who would have
otherwise died in the prime of their lives. TB also poses a significant threat to those
living with HIV/AIDS. In Africa in particular, TB is the leading cause of death among
people with HIV/AIDS. To ignore TB is to endanger all of the progress made so far in
fighting the AIDS pandemic.
The most troubling development, however, has been the rise of multidrug-resistant
tuberculosis, or MDR-TB. The World Health Organization recently reported that nearly
half a million of new TB cases are MDR-TB. These cases are far more difficult and
costly to treat than normal TB, taking years rather than months to cure. In some instances,
MDR-TB has advanced to the next stage – extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDRTB), which is virtually untreatable and has a mortality rate of 80 percent. The WHO says
that XDR-TB has now been found in 45 countries, including the United States.
Despite all this gloomy news, there is cause for hope: A few weeks ago, the House
Foreign Affairs Committee passed the Global Leadership Against HIV/AIDS,
Tuberculosis and Malaria Reauthorization Act of 2008, which authorizes $4
billion over the next five years for assistance with TB programs in other nations.
[FULL HOUSE MAY HAVE PASSED THIS BY THE TIME WE SUBMIT
THIS, PLEASE CHECK] The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is also
expected to consider this legislation soon [AGAIN, CHECK FOR LATEST
STATUS].
On the domestic side, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions
Committee unanimously passed the Comprehensive TB Elimination Act this fall.
This bill would provide more funding for research and diagnostic tools to combat
the disease, and give the CDC the authority to respond to global and domestic
outbreaks. It must now be passed by the full Senate. Both bills would provide
needed resources for controlling TB both at home and abroad.
With full support, we can come closer to the day when tuberculosis is no longer a
cause of pain and suffering for millions. And when that day happens, we’ll all be
able to inhale deeply and breathe a sigh of relief.