Interview with Patrick Bertrand
CAPE TOWN, Nov 10 2007 (IPS) – In a world where countless humanitarian causes clamour for action and funding, raising money to combat tuberculosis (TB) can prove a challenge.
Patrick Bertrand, of Global Health Advocates. Credit: Miriam Mannak
This is despite the fact that the airborne disease claims the lives of 590,000 people each year in Africa alone, according to the World Health Organisation, and is closely associated with the AIDS pandemic which is also taking a particular toll on the continent. TB bacteria often prove deadly to HIV positive persons whose immune systems are too weak to fight the illness.
So, how does one raise the profile of TB among decision-makers and donors?
IPS correspondent Miriam Mannak put this and other questions to Patrick Bertrand of Global Health Advocates, a non-profit that assists in efforts against poverty-related diseases such as AIDS, TB and malaria.
They spoke at the 38th Union World Conference on Lung Health, which is taking place in the South African coastal city of Cape Town from Nov. 8-12.
IPS: Let #39s first look at why more funding is needed to combat TB. Can you elaborate on this?
Patrick Bertrand (PB): More financial support is necessary to develop new drugs and vaccines. The current TB vaccine is over 80 years old and does not work adequately. The most commonly used drugs to treat TB have not been subjected to improvement for over 40 years.
Africa, which is hardest hit by the TB epidemic, also desperately needs new laboratories where one is able to detect and test for TB, especially Extensive Drug-Resistant TB (XDR-TB). This is a form of TB that is resistant to most drugs, and therefore deadlier than any other form of TB.
In short, the overall TB infrastructure in Africa needs to be upgraded in order to tackle the disease.
IPS: Building laboratories to test for TB is one thing, maintaining them another. Do your fund raising efforts take into account the money needed for upkeep of these facilities over the long term?
PB: Yes, of course. Just building a lab is not enough. We take everything into consideration, from the construction of the lab to the maintenance and staff. You need to maintain a laboratory to make sure that it functions many years from now, but you also need qualified staff members that are dedicated to contributing in the fight against TB. And you need to pay them, of course. This is all included in our campaigns to mobilise funding.
IPS: What are the main problems when it comes to raising the funds needed to combat TB in Africa?
PB: That would be the lack of political will and poor knowledge regarding TB in Africa. In the West, TB is regarded as an illness from the past. The fact that the disease is preventable and curable does not help either to capture the attention for TB. Yes, TB is curable and preventable, but it is also one of the greatest killers in Africa, especially among people living with HIV/AIDS.
The lack of knowledge regarding TB in Africa is in a way related to the manner the media have dealt with TB so far. Their priority has been HIV/AIDS. Therefore, both the public and the political arena have not been adequately informed about the grim reality of TB on the continent, which has had a negative impact on mobilising funding.
On the other hand, African communities have not been assertive and vocal enough either when it comes to demanding international assistance and funding to combat TB. When HIV proved to be a massive problem in Africa, communities and civil society stepped up and persistently demanded assistance from their governments and the outside world. This has not happened with regard to TB.
IPS: Is HIV/AIDS absorbing most of the available funding?
PB: In a certain sense it is. Because of its incurable nature and the many people dying (as a result of it), HIV/AIDS is still a priority.
More funding should go to both HIV and TB, as the (illness) is the main cause of death among people living with HIV/AIDS, especially in Africa.
We also think that programmes, campaigns and NGOs (non-governmental organisations) that focus on either TB or HIV/AIDS should work together instead of operating alone. Fortunately, we are seeing changes in this regard. More and more organisations that used to focus solely on HIV are slowly but surely putting more pressure on their governments to join the fight against TB.
The Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), one of South Africa #39s largest HIV activist groups, is a good example. The TAC organised a march through Cape Town on the first day of the conference, calling for more attention, action and funding for the TB epidemic. That is a good sign.
IPS: What are some of the innovative ways you have used so far to get decision makers to take a firmer stance against TB?
PB: We are working on creating partnerships between authorities, non-governmental organisations, community leaders, and other parties in both the North and the South. We for instance invite members from the civil society policy makers from the North to visit African countries. The idea is to show them what the dangers and the impact are of TB and especially Extensive Drug-Resistant TB.
Decision makers in wealthy countries need to realise that TB and XDR-TB are not an African problem only. TB bacteria do not have passports and can travel freely across the world. If nothing is done and if no new tools are developed, XDR-TB will be everywhere. Unfortunately, the developing of new tools such as new drugs, better tests and a new vaccine costs money. And that has been the problem.
But from our experience, our approach has been fruitful. More funding has become available after policy makers from wealthy countries discovered the seriousness of the situation.