RESULTS UK Return from Parliamentary Delegation to Rwanda

The RESULTS UK Parliamentary delegation recently returned from Rwanda after a week long visit to observe the country’s remarkable best practices adopted to combat infectious diseases and the Millenium Development Goals. MPs Cathy Jamieson and Angus MacNeil alongside RESULTS staff Aaron Oxley (Executive Director) and Aparna Barua (ACTION Project Associate) met with health centre staff, patients and civil society organisations across the country to learn and discuss health issues and the impact of tuberculosis (TB) on development.  

March Conference Call recording now available

On Tuesday we held our March Conference Call entitled: “World TB Day: still neglected, still killing”. March the 24th 2011 marks the 29th anniversary of World TB Day. TB is a preventable and curable disease, yet it kills 1.7 million people every year. While progress has been made towards fighting TB, many challenges remain, the greatest of which is the lack of prioritisation of this global health threat from governments in the developing and developed world. If we do not address the issue now, 20 million people will die from TB in the next decade.

Our guest speaker on the call was Joel Spicer, senior strategist at the Stop TB partnership, a coalition of donors, governments and NGOs working to end TB, which is hosted in the World Health Organisation (WHO). If you were unable to join us on the call, you can now listen to the recording here.

March Conference Call announced: “World TB Day: still neglected, still killing”

RESULTS is glad to announce that we will be having our next conference called entitled: “Wold TB Day: still neglected, still killing” on the 1st of March 2011. In light of the 29th anniversary of World TB Day taking place on the 24th of March 2011, we are asking our activists to write to their MPs to ask them to take action to ensure that the UK government puts the political priority necessary into the fight against TB and HIV. Click here to download the action materials.

RESULTS UK leads delegation of British MPs to Rwanda

RESULTS is pleased to announce that Aaron Oxley, Executive Director of RESULTS UK and Aparna Barua, ACTION Project Associate, will be leading a parliamentary delegation to Rwanda from the 19th until the 25th of February 2011. The purpose of this delegation will be to assess how Rwanda is addressing major health challenges in tuberculosis (TB) and HIV/AIDS co-infection. Sixteen years after civil war, Rwanda has made an incredible recovery and despite on-going political problems the country has taken a leadership position on tackling major health issues.

Diagnostics company to develop rapid test for HIV

Late last year we reported on a revolutionary new tuberculosis (TB) test (Xpert MTB/RIF) that was endorsed by the World Health Organisation. Cepheid, the company that developed Xpert MTB/RIF, and FIND, a non-profit foundation dedicated to developing affordable and easy-to-use diagnostic tests, have announced their collaboration to develop a rapid molecular test to diagnose HIV. The HIV test would run on Cepheid’s existing GeneXpert machine which is already being used for the TB test.

European Parliament votes to support global fight against TB

Last week, the EU Parliament overwhelmingly voted to include tuberculosis (TB) in the Europe 2020 Strategy, the EU’s strategy for growth for the coming decade. The resolution was supported by 578 MEPs with only 9 voting against and 52 abstentions. The resolution highlights the role European research can play in developing countries, where TB’s toll is the highest.

Malawian Advocate, Thokozile Phiri-Nkoma, coming to the UK SOON!

RESULTS UK are happy to announce that Malawian TB-HIV advocate, Thokozile Phiri-Nkoma, will be coming next month to take part in RESULTS Advocacy Tour!

Nelson Mandela recovering from respiratory illness

Last week it was reported that Nelson Mandela has been treated for an acute respiratory infection and is responding well. Mandela spent two nights in hospital last week and is currently receiving home-based care in Johannesburg and is being treated by military doctors. One of his doctors, Dr Vejay Ramlakan , commented ‘His amazing positive attitude allows him to cope with the difficulties of old age with the greatest of grace.’

Such respiratory infections are common amongst people his age. Mandela is said to be in good spirits and his health is no longer in danger. Since contracting tuberculosis (TB) in 1988 during his imprisonment at Robben Island, Mandela has suffered multiple respiratory infections. It is rumoured that Mandela was treated for a collapsed lung, which can occur if there is underlying lung disease such as emphysema, asthma, TB or pneumonia, according to Prof Gillian Ainslie, pulmonologist of the University of Cape Town Lung Institute. She also explained that TB can permanently scar the lung, predisposing him to future infections.

Stop TB Partnership Announces New Executive Secretary

This week the Stop TB Partnership announced its newly appointed Executive Secretary, Dr. Lucia Ditiu, following the departure of Marcos Espinal in August 2010. A native of Romania, Dr Ditiu is a physician and researcher who has devoted her career to improving the lives of people living in communities heavily burdened by tuberculosis (TB).

Inaccurate tuberculosis test shows need for better diagnostics

Inaccurate TB tests are being sold across the developing world and are misdiagnosing millions of people.  Alarm is being raised over serology tests being sold by private companies.  These have been described by Madhukar Pai, co-chair of the STOP-TB Partnership’s diagnostics working group, as “inaccurate and useless”.  This problem highlights the desperate need for better regulation and an accurate and cheap point of care test for tuberculosis.