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Public release date: 22-Mar-2012[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Alimuddin Zumla
a.zumla@ucl.ac.uk
44-790-463-8375
University College London
'Tuberculosis and TB/HIV/AIDS: Unanswered Questions and Controversies' launches at World TB Day Conference 'Tuberculosis -- Local and Global'
To coincide with World TB day (24th March), The Journal of Infectious Diseases (JID) publishes a special supplement: 'TUBERCULOSIS and TB/HIV/AIDS: Unanswered Questions and Controversies', guest edited by Professor Alimuddin 'Ali' Zumla (Division of Infection and Immunity, UCL) and Dr. Marco Schito (Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine*).
The articles from the JID supplement will be presented, along with local tuberculosis research performed at UCL and the Royal Free Hospital, at a World TB Day Conference 'Tuberculosis: Local and Global'. The event will be hosted by UCL at the Royal Free Hospital in London on Friday March 23rd.
Worldwide, tuberculosis (TB) remains one of the most important causes of death from an infectious disease. TB and TB/HIV co-disease caused an estimated 1.4 million deaths in 2010 and there were 8.8 million incident cases of TB, with the highest rates occurring in sub-Saharan Africa and the largest number of cases in Asia. Sub-Saharan Africa continues to be disproportionately affected by the dual epidemics of TB and HIV. Moreover, the number-one cause of death for HIV-infected patients in sub-Saharan Africa is TB.
While recent TB control efforts have been substantial and progress in the development of new diagnostics, drugs and vaccines has accelerated, the implementation of coordinated TB/HIV treatment and prevention activities remains challenging. Despite nearly 20 years of World Health Organisation (WHO)-directed and coordinated activity, and 12 years of multidrug-resistant (MDR) tuberculosisspecific activity, "the response to the drug-resistant tuberculosis epidemic seems to be ineffectual, with projected rapid increase in the global incidence of Multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB)," said Professor Zumla. "It (MDR TB) continues to spread and now poses a major threat to TB control - recent reports of highly drug resistant TB from Iran and Bombay are worrisome," he continued.
According to the supplement's accompanying editorial, the main obstacle hindering progress toward achieving TB control seems to be the lack of creative and lateral thinking with unity of purpose. Historically, some widely held assumptions, dogma, and orthodoxy have prevailed, leading to polarization of thought, varying opinions, and continued debate within the scientific, medical, funding, and various other stakeholder communities. The need for open debate and fostering of innovation is reflected by the needs surrounding all aspects of tuberculosis and HIV control strategies.
This need has never been greater, especially in the current adverse global economic climate.
The JID supplement arises from the urgent need to focus attention on core problems and secure a broad spectrum of opinion from TB and HIV/AIDS experts from various geographical backgrounds. It comprises 23 articles written by 164 authors from all over the world.
This special volume critically highlights current controversies and unanswered questions in TB and TB/HIV issues affecting adults and children, and provides insights into newer and enhanced approaches to achieving the Millennium Development Goals for TB control. Specifically, the volume covers operational issues, challenges, and priority needs relating to a broad range of diagnostic, management, prevention, surveillance and related research issues. The array of priorities spans development, evaluation, and implementation of new drugs, diagnostics, and vaccines.
"Political commitment, regulatory cohesiveness, donor investments, and increased coordination among all stakeholders is necessary to make progress," says Professor Ali Zumla. "This includes upgrading of laboratory services for early and accurate diagnosis, development and validation of better diagnostic testing algorithms, effective treatment at points of care, and improved surveillance.
"This supplement also underlines preventable factors, such as crowded living conditions and under-nutrition that continue to make communities vulnerable to disease," continues Professor Zumla. "The influence of non-communicable diseases, such as smoking-related lung disease, diet-related diabetes mellitus, malnutrition, as well as alcohol and drug abuse, highlight the need for a multi-disciplinary approach in tackling both TB and HIV."
Despite increased funding for TB, several articles point to a serious shortfall which continues to persist. The financial difficulties faced by the Global Fund place recent gains in TB control and the numbers of HIV-infected persons on life-saving treatment at serious risk in many donor-reliant countries. The global fight against TB and HIV requires perseverance, assertiveness, and innovation, and clarity of intent well beyond current efforts. All authors in the supplement call on governmental, civil society, non-governmental groups, donors, and funders to work collectively to assist in global control of TB and, ultimately, its elimination.
###
Note to editors:
Contacts for press:
Professor Alimuddin Zumla, University College London Medical School, London United Kingdom
Telephone +44 (0) 7904638375
Email: a.zumla@ucl.ac.uk
Dr. Marco Schito, Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine
Division of AIDS, NIAID, NIH, DHHS, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
Telephone: +1-301-594-5374 Cell: +1(240) 421-8470
Email: schitom@niaid.nih.gov
'Tuberculosis: Local and Global' conference website and full programme of speakers: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/global-health/project-pages/symposia/tb-local-global
For full JID Supplement: see: Journal of Infectious Diseases website: http://jid.oxfordjournals.org/ after March 23rd.
Launch of the volume at World TB Day symposium: The volume will be launched at a World TB Day symposium being held by UCL at the Royal Free Hospital campus on Friday March 23rd, 2012 (the day before world TB Day, March 24th 2012). The symposium will include presentations from the lead authors of the articles in this volume. A programme of the event is detailed below. The symposium has been organised by Dr Tim Mchugh, Dr Marc Lipman and Professor Ali Zumla.
Acknowledgements: This JID supplement project has been funded in part with federal funds from the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, (contract HHSN272200800014C). Professor Ali Zumla receives support from EuropeAID, Belgium; European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP),Netherlands; UK Medical Research Council (MRC); and UBS OptimusFoundation, Switzerland, University College London Hospitals Comprehensive Biomedical Research Centre (UCLH-CBRC) and the UCL Hospitals National Health Service (NHS) Foundation Trust.
*Dr. Marco Schito's full affiliation is the Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine [HJF], working under contract to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health, USA.
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Public release date: 22-Mar-2012[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Alimuddin Zumla
a.zumla@ucl.ac.uk
44-790-463-8375
University College London
'Tuberculosis and TB/HIV/AIDS: Unanswered Questions and Controversies' launches at World TB Day Conference 'Tuberculosis -- Local and Global'
To coincide with World TB day (24th March), The Journal of Infectious Diseases (JID) publishes a special supplement: 'TUBERCULOSIS and TB/HIV/AIDS: Unanswered Questions and Controversies', guest edited by Professor Alimuddin 'Ali' Zumla (Division of Infection and Immunity, UCL) and Dr. Marco Schito (Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine*).
The articles from the JID supplement will be presented, along with local tuberculosis research performed at UCL and the Royal Free Hospital, at a World TB Day Conference 'Tuberculosis: Local and Global'. The event will be hosted by UCL at the Royal Free Hospital in London on Friday March 23rd.
Worldwide, tuberculosis (TB) remains one of the most important causes of death from an infectious disease. TB and TB/HIV co-disease caused an estimated 1.4 million deaths in 2010 and there were 8.8 million incident cases of TB, with the highest rates occurring in sub-Saharan Africa and the largest number of cases in Asia. Sub-Saharan Africa continues to be disproportionately affected by the dual epidemics of TB and HIV. Moreover, the number-one cause of death for HIV-infected patients in sub-Saharan Africa is TB.
While recent TB control efforts have been substantial and progress in the development of new diagnostics, drugs and vaccines has accelerated, the implementation of coordinated TB/HIV treatment and prevention activities remains challenging. Despite nearly 20 years of World Health Organisation (WHO)-directed and coordinated activity, and 12 years of multidrug-resistant (MDR) tuberculosisspecific activity, "the response to the drug-resistant tuberculosis epidemic seems to be ineffectual, with projected rapid increase in the global incidence of Multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB)," said Professor Zumla. "It (MDR TB) continues to spread and now poses a major threat to TB control - recent reports of highly drug resistant TB from Iran and Bombay are worrisome," he continued.
According to the supplement's accompanying editorial, the main obstacle hindering progress toward achieving TB control seems to be the lack of creative and lateral thinking with unity of purpose. Historically, some widely held assumptions, dogma, and orthodoxy have prevailed, leading to polarization of thought, varying opinions, and continued debate within the scientific, medical, funding, and various other stakeholder communities. The need for open debate and fostering of innovation is reflected by the needs surrounding all aspects of tuberculosis and HIV control strategies.
This need has never been greater, especially in the current adverse global economic climate.
The JID supplement arises from the urgent need to focus attention on core problems and secure a broad spectrum of opinion from TB and HIV/AIDS experts from various geographical backgrounds. It comprises 23 articles written by 164 authors from all over the world.
This special volume critically highlights current controversies and unanswered questions in TB and TB/HIV issues affecting adults and children, and provides insights into newer and enhanced approaches to achieving the Millennium Development Goals for TB control. Specifically, the volume covers operational issues, challenges, and priority needs relating to a broad range of diagnostic, management, prevention, surveillance and related research issues. The array of priorities spans development, evaluation, and implementation of new drugs, diagnostics, and vaccines.
"Political commitment, regulatory cohesiveness, donor investments, and increased coordination among all stakeholders is necessary to make progress," says Professor Ali Zumla. "This includes upgrading of laboratory services for early and accurate diagnosis, development and validation of better diagnostic testing algorithms, effective treatment at points of care, and improved surveillance.
"This supplement also underlines preventable factors, such as crowded living conditions and under-nutrition that continue to make communities vulnerable to disease," continues Professor Zumla. "The influence of non-communicable diseases, such as smoking-related lung disease, diet-related diabetes mellitus, malnutrition, as well as alcohol and drug abuse, highlight the need for a multi-disciplinary approach in tackling both TB and HIV."
Despite increased funding for TB, several articles point to a serious shortfall which continues to persist. The financial difficulties faced by the Global Fund place recent gains in TB control and the numbers of HIV-infected persons on life-saving treatment at serious risk in many donor-reliant countries. The global fight against TB and HIV requires perseverance, assertiveness, and innovation, and clarity of intent well beyond current efforts. All authors in the supplement call on governmental, civil society, non-governmental groups, donors, and funders to work collectively to assist in global control of TB and, ultimately, its elimination.
###
Note to editors:
Contacts for press:
Professor Alimuddin Zumla, University College London Medical School, London United Kingdom
Telephone +44 (0) 7904638375
Email: a.zumla@ucl.ac.uk
Dr. Marco Schito, Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine
Division of AIDS, NIAID, NIH, DHHS, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
Telephone: +1-301-594-5374 Cell: +1(240) 421-8470
Email: schitom@niaid.nih.gov
'Tuberculosis: Local and Global' conference website and full programme of speakers: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/global-health/project-pages/symposia/tb-local-global
For full JID Supplement: see: Journal of Infectious Diseases website: http://jid.oxfordjournals.org/ after March 23rd.
Launch of the volume at World TB Day symposium: The volume will be launched at a World TB Day symposium being held by UCL at the Royal Free Hospital campus on Friday March 23rd, 2012 (the day before world TB Day, March 24th 2012). The symposium will include presentations from the lead authors of the articles in this volume. A programme of the event is detailed below. The symposium has been organised by Dr Tim Mchugh, Dr Marc Lipman and Professor Ali Zumla.
Acknowledgements: This JID supplement project has been funded in part with federal funds from the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, (contract HHSN272200800014C). Professor Ali Zumla receives support from EuropeAID, Belgium; European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP),Netherlands; UK Medical Research Council (MRC); and UBS OptimusFoundation, Switzerland, University College London Hospitals Comprehensive Biomedical Research Centre (UCLH-CBRC) and the UCL Hospitals National Health Service (NHS) Foundation Trust.
*Dr. Marco Schito's full affiliation is the Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine [HJF], working under contract to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health, USA.
[ | E-mail | Share ] ?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-03/ucl-joi032012.php
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