Brussels, 30 March 2010 – The European Union needs to strengthen the fight against tuberculosis and concentrate on innovation and collaboration to globally control the infectious disease. This was the message of several expert speakers to the European Parliament, other politicians and decision makers at a special symposium today, World Tuberculosis Day.

Françoise Grossetête, Member of Parliament (MEP), opened the ‘Innovate to eliminate tuberculosis’ symposium, held in the European Parliament, by reminding the audience that in 2010 tuberculosis (TB) remains a main cause of mortality worldwide. “Contrary to popular believe, the disease also affects the European Union (EU),” Grossetête underlined, adding that within the EU 16 people a day die of the disease. Worldwide, 1,8 million people die of tuberculosis each year. Around 14 million people suffer from the disease.

Grossetête stressed the importance for the EU to continue supporting the fight against TB. “The EU research framework programs has widely demonstrated the ability of the EU to be at the forefront of discoveries in the field of immunization. We can not lose this achievement and decades of investment. The 2020 EU strategy must focus on innovation and research so that tuberculosis will finally belong to the past.”

Dr Jorge Sampaio, UN special envoy to stop TB, in a video message called upon governments and international partners to recognize that fully addressing tuberculosis is ‘a key investment in the people of the world’. “TB is not a disease of the past, but it is an unfinished business. TB is a threat of the present and a challenge for the future,” he said.

According to Sampaio the European Commission can take up a ‘much more active and assertive role in combating tuberculosis’ by e.g. initiating important policies and providing financial support on TB, increasing TB research funding, and tackling multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) and extensively drug resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) and establishing a European think tank on TB.

Former MEP and former UK health minister John Bowis warned the European Parliament not to think of TB as a problem of ‘back then’ and ‘over there’. “TB is in our backyard -  not just the enemy at the gate of the East but an enemy within all our Member States of the Union,” said Bowis, member of the Board of Trustees of TuBerculosis Vaccine Initiative (TBVI), a European consortium of over 40 research institutes working on the development of new TB vaccines.

“TB is a problem estimated by the World Bank to cost 0.5%, or several hundred billion dollars a year, of the global national income, not to mention the millions of lives ended or wrecked”, he said, adding that tuberculosis can only be eliminated with new diagnostics, new treatments and new vaccines. He urged for more resources for research and innovative funding. “Perhaps the H1N1 flu pandemic has shown that, with political will and scientific and industrial initiative, it is really possible to mobilise the needed resources.”

Also Zuzana Jakab, World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Director for Europe, underscored that ‘more resources will be needed to convert scientific discoveries into new and better drugs, diagnostics and vaccines’. In the WHO European Region there are 18 countries in which the TB situation is ‘alarming’, Jakab stressed in a message read out by Risards Zaleskis of the WHO. Among the 27 high-priority countries that collectively account for 85% of the estimated MDR-TB cases globally, 15 are within the WHO European Region. The rate of XDR-TB is one of the highest in the world.

Peter Gondrie, executive-director of KNCV Tuberculosis Foundation, gave an update on the latest developments in tuberculosis diagnostics, drugs and vaccines. He recalled Europe’s role in the history of tuberculosis. “The diagnosis was found in Germany (1882), the vaccine was found in France (1921) and the latest drugs was developed in Italy (1958). There is a challenge ahead in Europe to continue discoveries in innovative ways,” he said, stressing the urge to replace these outdated tools.

According to Gondrie just discovering new diagnostics, drugs and vaccines is not enough. These should be useful, affordable and implementable in the field as well. “There is an urge for rapid investment in new tools. It’s time for us to do something and that time has come now.”

Tido von Schoen-Angerer, executive director of the access to essential medicines campaign of Medicins Sans Frontières, in his overview of the need for innovation in tuberculosis among others explained that MDR-TB and XDR-TB will cost €11 billion over the next 6 years, meaning funding needs to increase 16 times. He recommended the European Commission to put TB higher on the political agenda, to boost the contribution to tuberculosis and other neglected diseases research and development and invest in alternative mechanisms for R&D.

Dmytro Sheremby of the All-Ukrainian Network of PLWH (People Living With HIV/AIDS), who suffered from MDR-TB, spoke of his own experiences. “Three out of four HIV-positive people die of tuberculosis in Ukraine. I am one of those who have survived in the war on tuberculosis,” he said. “Without the support of reforms in TB dispensaries, without new technologies of TB treatment, and without the European Union financial support we won’t be able to win this war.” He stressed that the disease travels across borders. “TB has no passport, and it is not issued entry visas.”

World TB Day is meant to increase awareness of tuberculosis and the enormous impact it still has on societies and economies today. March 24 marks the day in 1882 that the German physician Robert Koch announced his discovery of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacterium that causes TB.

The full text of most of the speeches are available at http://www.tbvi.eu/news-agenda/tbvi-news/news-message/test.html

For more information, please contact:
TuBerculosis Vaccine Initiative (TBVI)
Ms. Erna Balk
Director Communications & Advocacy Relations
Tel: +31 (0)320 29 32 65
Fax:: +31 (0)320 23 80 50
erna.balk(at)wur.nl