TB is controllable
From Mr Paul Sornmelfeld and Dr Peter Davies Sir: Your cover story by Anthony Browne ('How the government endangers British lives', 25 January) was deeply depressing and misleading.
We write as individuals working in the field of tuberculosis, and are saddened that the erroneous views of Mr Browne could divert attention from what really matters in the control of the infectious diseases that he cites — TB, HIV and hepatitis. Health checks on migrants can be useful and do happen, but of more importance is support for global action against these diseases and maintenance of a good public-health structure at home.
As regards tuberculosis, both in Britain and worldwide, both under this government and its predecessor, there has been investment in disease control but it has lagged behind the ability of the disease to increase.
Mr Browne managed to cite some facts correctly (TB is curable; 7.300 cases of TB in the UK in 2001) but also added misinformation. The rate of TB in Britain as a whole has not 'trebled'. From its lowest point of 8.7 per 100.000 in 1987, it has risen through periods of both Tory and Labour government to 13 per 100,000 in 2001.
The most telling fact about TB is that the world is allowing two million individuals to die every year from a curable disease. Almost all of these deaths could be avoided with a little more money and a lot more determination. Sadly, however, the energy being put into the war against terrorism is very far from being matched in the fight against killer diseases.
Mr Browne should have asked: why have there been virtually no new pledges by rich governments to the Global Fund against TB, HIV and Malaria since 9/11? And, here in Britain, will the Department of Health put real resources and urgency behind its imminently expected Action Plan for Tuberculosis?
It was we who gave the world tuberculosis in the first place. Shouldn't we be taking our share of responsibility in clearing it up?
Paul Sommetfeld Dr Peter Davies
TB Alert, London NW10
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