Dear all,

 

Please see attached and press release below of our Race Against TB event, taking place tomorrow at the King’s Fund, London. This event has already been heavily oversubscribed and will be of interest to colleagues working at reducing race inequality in health. For more information, you can contact: Jack O’Sullivan on [log in to unmask].

 

Kind regards,

 

Musmirah

 

Musmirah Shahzada (Ms.)

Race for Health Business Manager

 

NHS leaders meet to create action plan to tackle 20 year TB surge

 

Embargoed for publication: 00.01 Wednesday June 30

Press Contacts:                  Helen Clegg, TB Alert 01273 234030/ 07949 675033  Jack O’Sullivan, Race for Health 07779 655585

 

AN ACTION blueprint for tackling the health inequalities that lie at the heart of the UK’s rising numbers of tuberculosis cases will be developed at a summit of health leaders today (June 30).

 

100 NHS leaders and senior figures in social care will meet at the King’s Fund Centre (11-13 Cavendish Square, London W1G 0AN, 9.30am to 4pm) to hear how a 20 year increase in TB cases means that the UK could soon have more cases than the US, which has five times this country’s population.

 

The ‘Race against Tuberculosis’ event will hear that failure to tackle TB is killing people, blighting the lives of many more, particularly in black and minority ethnic communities and other hard-to-reach groups. It is creating strains threatening the effectiveness of drug therapy.

 

The event, supported by London TB Commissioning and the Department of Health, is a partnership between Race for Health, a DH-sponsored programme to improve health in BME communities, and TB Alert, the key partner of the DH in raising awareness about TB. 

 

The Government has acknowledged that tuberculosis can be a costly public health and economic issue if not effectively managed (DH, 2007).  The majority of new cases, in London and elsewhere, arise in socially and economically disadvantaged communities and those from newly arrived racial minorities.   Over the past 20 years there has been a steady increase in new cases in the UK, with 9,153 provisionally reported in 2009, a 5.5% increase compared with 2008 (HPA, 2010); 72% of cases were non-UK-born people and 78% were from non-white ethnic groups (HPA, 2010).

 

Keynote speaker, Nick Relph, Chair of the London TB Commissioning and Chief Executive, Hounslow PCT, said: ‘TB is curable, but a lack of awareness is preventing many people from accessing treatment. A joined-up approach between local stakeholders and a more focussed approach by the NHS could dramatically reduce rates of the condition.’

 

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” seminar 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.” 

 

Dr Ade Adeagbo, Interim Chief Executive, African HIV Policy Network, said: ‘TB is particularly hitting our communities. We need a clear action plan to reverse an increase that has been going on for far too long.’

 

Notes for Editors:

 

With over 3,000 new cases annually in London, NHS London has made the condition a priority for all PCTs and has “used metric 6 (TB treatment completion rate) as a proxy monitoring tool to measure and promote improvements in tuberculosis outcomes” (HPA, 2009a).  As part of this prioritisation new structures have been put in place to strengthen the response of commissioners, including the establishing of London TB Commissioning and the London TB Clinical Reference Group.  Other PCTs in the country where incidences of TB are increasing have also put in place strategic plans to reduce TB cases.  

 

Whilst these strategic responses are paramount in the control of TB, much work remains to be done to raise awareness in affected communities.  The Chief Medical Officer’s TB Action Plan (DH, 2004) highlights the importance of increasing level of awareness of TB and developing initiatives to support local awareness raising among high risk groups.  The TB Toolkit (DH, 2007) specifies that comprehensive commissioned TB services should include locally targeted health promotion and awareness raising using Third Sector organisations.  Additionally, PCTs need to employ more sophisticated social marketing techniques to effectively engage BME communities and new entrants in terms of access to primary care and screening, as well as to inform them of the critical benefits of early TB diagnosis and compliance with treatment.

 

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 [log in to unmask]  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 [log in to unmask] 07779 655585