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“TB has long undermined efforts to promote sustainable development in many countries of the so-called Third World… What a splendid gift TB elimination will be for humanity’s Third Millennium.”

Desmond Tutu, Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Town

 

Did You Know?

Of the world's 23 million people living with HIV/AIDS, more than 93% live in developing countries.

 

Did You Know?

TB can be cured. A course of drugs to treat a patient for six months costs just 10 dollars.

 

Did You Know?

AIDS, TB and malaria kill over 6 million people annually.

 

Global health

Just three diseases are responsible for the deaths of over 6 million people every single year. AIDS, tuberculosis (TB) and malaria continue to wreak havoc throughout the world, though (as is too often the case) it is the developing world that continues to bear the brunt of the three devastating diseases.

The sheer scale and magnitude of the three epidemics constitutes a global health crisis on an almost incomprehensible scale. In order to effectively deal with this global health crisis the international community must drastically step up its efforts to provide far greater resources to the fight against the three diseases. Whilst progress has been made it has been insufficient to achieve the global community’s stated aims of halting and ultimately reversing the incidence of the three diseases by 2015.

To date the global response to the AIDS, TB and malaria epidemics has often been uncoordinated, underfunded and lacklustre, resulting in the needless deaths of millions of people worldwide. RESULTS works to generate the political will to deal with the diseases as a matter of far greater urgency. Furthermore we strongly advocate for greater funding to fight these diseases and work to ensure that those funds are spent as efficiently as possible.

HIV/AIDS

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that can lead to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition that leads to failure in an infected person’s immune system. Once this occurs that person becomes vulnerable to numerous opportunistic infections and diseases, including TB. Without appropriate treatment, the average time of progression from HIV infection to AIDS is nine to ten years. Once a person develops full-blown AIDS average survival time is only 9.2 months, though rates of progression vary widely from person to person.

HIV/AIDS has been described by some as the ‘worst epidemic in human history’. On closer inspection of some of the statistics behind HIV/AIDS, it becomes clear why.

Some startling facts:

Tuberculosis

TB is a highly infectious disease caused by bacilli called mycobacterium tuberculosis. Approximately two billion people, equal to one-third of the world’s total population, are infected with mycobacterium tuberculosis. However, not all those infected with the TB bacilli will become sick with active TB as most infections remain latent. It is estimated that one in ten latent infections will progress to active TB in a person’s lifetime. Once this happens one person can infect a further 10 to 15 people in a single year, demonstrating just how rapidly the disease can spread if left untreated.

Despite being entirely treatable, TB is a major cause of death worldwide. In 2005, there were an estimated 8.8 million new cases and over 1.6 million deaths directly attributable to TB.

There has, however, been some notable success in dealing with the crisis as the global TB epidemic appears to finally be on the threshold of decline with infection rates appearing to have stabilised or begun to fall in most regions of the world, with the notable exception of Sub-Saharan Africa where TB is making a worrying resurgence.

Furthermore, any success in the fight against the disease threatens to be undermined by the emergence of drug resistant TB and the growing TB/HIV co-infection. These worrying developments underscore the need for constant vigilance and renewed efforts in the fight against the disease.

For more information about RESULTS UK's work on TB, click here.

TB/HIV co-infection

HIV/AIDS significantly weakens the immune system which allows opportunistic diseases, such as TB the chance to establish themselves when under normal conditions a person’s natural immune system would be sufficient to keep the disease at bay. Once the TB infection takes hold the body’s weakened defence system simply cannot cope and death can ensue within weeks if left untreated.

There are thought to be between 12 and 15 million people co-infected with TB and HIV, which amounts to almost a third of all people living with HIV. Furthermore up to a third of all AIDS deaths worldwide can be directly attributed to TB. Despite the link between HIV and TB being almost universally acknowledged, TB and HIV programmes remain overwhelmingly independent of one another, an oversight that continues to cost countless lives.

RESULTS works to encourage greater collaboration between HIV/AIDS and TB programmes, seeking to educate others about the urgent need to deal with the two diseases in a collaborative and coordinated way. Such a collaborative approach is necessary if the world is to make headway in the fight against the two diseases.

Malaria

Malaria is a deadly yet entirely treatable and curable disease that afflicts almost 40% of the world’s population. Of the 2.5 billion people at risk, between 350-500 million become severely ill with malaria every year and more than 1 million die from the effects of the disease, most of whom are from the developing world.

Malaria is a particularly serious problem in Sub-Saharan Africa, where one in every five (20%) childhood deaths is due to the effects of the disease. It is estimated that an African child dies every 30 seconds from malaria.

Malaria is a major global health issue that perpetuates poverty and hampers development in many of the poorest countries of the world. RESULTS is committed to ensuring that anti-malarial programmes receive the necessary funding and support they need to make real progress in the fight against this devastating disease.

The Global Fund to Fight Aids, TB and Malaria

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and malaria was established in 2002 in response to the growing threat posed by the three diseases.

The aim of the Fund was to dramatically increase the funds available to fight the three diseases, providing long-term, dependable and transparent funding to those countries most in need.

To date the Global Fund has signed 428 grants worth almost US$7.7 billion across 136 countries, helping to save the lives of an estimated 1.8 million people. The Fund is now credited with providing 21% of funding in the global battle against AIDS, 67% of Malaria funding and 64% of TB funding.

By June 2007, Global Fund financing provided:

RESULTS recognises the crucial role that the Global Fund plays in the fight against AIDS, TB and malaria and is fully supportive of the Fund’s endeavours to tackle the diseases. However if the Fund is to continue making advances in the fight against the three diseases it is has been agreed that the Fund will need to treble its resources. We have therefore actively campaigned to ensure that the British government fulfil its obligation to pay its full and fair share of the Fund, recently campaigning for a £703 million commitment for the period 2008-2010. Sadly the British government fell short of making such a commitment at the September 2007 replenishment conference in Berlin.

RESULTS continues to support the work of the Global Fund and will continue to encourage the British government to contribute its full and fair share to this life saving Fund.

What has RESULTS in the UK done?

To find out more about what RESULTS has achieved click here

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