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WLF holds seminar on TB and social exclusion
Seminar participants listen to a presentation on social exclusion and health.On February 5-6, 2007 the World Lung Foundation held a seminar on TB and social exclusion in Salzburg, Austria. In partnership with the World Health Organization, the World Lung Foundation hosted 42 representatives from Eastern Europe. Participants came from governmental agencies and non-profit organizations, and they learned about the benefits of addressing poverty and social exclusion in TB control. Making sure that TB services meet the needs of the poor will decrease the number of people who die from TB without ever having been diagnosed, and will help those that struggle with the financial and other costs associated with the standard six months of treatment.
Participants listened to presentations by colleagues from all over Europe, and worked in country-level working groups to develop new strategies and programs to better reach the poor with TB services.
The seminar also served as a launch for a new Open Society Institute Public Health Program/World Lung Foundation report on TB in Roma (Gypsy) communities. The report outlines the available data on Roma and TB in Central and Eastern Europe and current efforts by governments and non-profit organizations to address TB in Roma communities. The report concludes that, because they are disproportionately poor and suffer from ethnically-based discrimination, Roma probably account for a higher percentage of TB cases in Europe than their population size would suggest. Moreover, they face particular economic, geographic, socio-economic, and health-system related barriers in obtaining TB diagnosis and in completing treatment.
Click here to download the report.
The seminar was supported by the Open Society Institute's Public Health Program and the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease.
The presentations can be downloaded here:
- Conference Objectives and Methodology. Marta Schaaf, Advocacy Manager, World Lung Foundation
- Background on TB in Europe. Lucica Ditiu, TB Medical Officer, WHO/EURO
- Social Exclusion and Health. Tamsin Rose, Consultant, former Secretary General of the European Public Health Alliance
- Barrier Analysis. What are the obstacles to reaching the excluded? Marta Schaaf
- Socially Excluded Groups and TB Control. Lucica Ditiu
- Health Communications and Advocacy – thinking beyond pamphlets. Natalia Zaika, Programme officer in Behaviour Change Communication, PATH, Ukraine
- NGO program successes in addressing social exclusion in TB control: Case study from Romania. Georgel Radulescu, Doctors of the World Romania
- Governmental and NGO partnerships in addressing social exclusion in the control of TB. The Red Cross Red Crescent in Tuberculosis Control. Lasha Goguadze, Senior Health Officer for TB, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent & Control of Tuberculosis in Serbia. Marija Cukic, Program Manager, Red Cross of Serbia
- Closure of the meeting: Wrap up and key messages. Tamsin Rose