TB combined approach

Combined projects

In 1973, our collaborators in the Congo who were fighting leprosy realized that tuberculosis was just as important a problem. It would be easy to combine the struggle against both diseases. They might seem very different but actually resemble one another. Their laboratory examinations were highly similar. Administrative difficulties in guaranteeing supervised treatment in a given time frame, including retrieval of lost patients and analyzing outcomes by cohorts were identical for both these health-related issues and often concerned one and the same population.

Evolution differed

Although the number of leprosy sufferers detected each year varied, oscillating around half a million, 8-10 million people present symptoms of tuberculosis. Certain countries no longer had a leprosy problem but still had an important tuberculosis problem. Although the Damien Foundation had begun its activities as an anti-leprosy association, it now embarked upon a vast project to combat tuberculosis.

Tuberculosis more important

Although the number of leprosy sufferers was constantly decreasing, 8-10 million new cases would develop tuberculosis each year. This was motive enough to start projects which were exclusively dedicated to fighting TB. In 2007, 270,308 patients with tuberculosis were detected through projects which the Damien Foundation was backing. The Foundation offered these patients treatment under the Direct Observation Treatment Strategy (DOTS).

We are not alone in our struggle

The WHO, the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases (IUATLD), the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (UICTMR), le Fond global contre le SIDA, la tuberculose et la malaria (GFATM), the Royal Netherlands Tuberculosis Association (KNCV), the International Federation of Anti-Leprosy Associations (ILEP), the World Bank, governments, NGOs as well as private parties and donors joined forces to fight this scourge, many amongst them members of the Stop-TB Partnership.

Find out more about the international approach.