Raising Awareness in the UK

Raising awareness of TB symptoms and treatment is vital.  Our work concentrates on making sure that medical staff and patients are aware of the possibility of TB so that it is diagnosed without delay.

One man didn’t go to the doctor despite having a cough for over two years – he thought as a smoker he would just be told off and told to give up.  He died when the TB causing the cough spread to his brain. 

Janeanne from East Anglia was told she was being a “silly girl” and a hypochondriac when she kept going to the doctor with chest complaints.  She passed on TB to members of her family including her nephew Travis, and lost part of a lung because her diagnosis was delayed.

TB Alert has become recognised by the media as a prime source of information and comment on TB, and responds almost daily to requests from journalists. This has helped the noticeable change in public reaction over the past 3 years from 'I thought TB had gone away' to 'Oh yes, I hear it's back'.

Click here to see a double page spread on TB produced by Now Magazine in 2004

TB Alert also mounts exhibitions, and its supporters speak, at medical and nursing conferences to heighten awareness of TB.

• We have a partnership with Rotary, supporting TB-awareness initiatives by clubs throughout Britain and Ireland.
• We produce posters and leaflets for health centres and doctors' surgeries to give information to patients.
• We respond to queries from medical professionals and patients, as well as the media.

The more people 'Think TB', the more likely that cases are diagnosed without the delays that lead to increased infection such as happened in a Leicester school in 2001.

TB Alert has also worked with the Department of Health to help produce a series of materials (leaflet, factsheet, poster and info card) designed to raise awareness about TB among the public and health professionals. These materials have recently been updated in line with the new government BCG vaccination policy. Printed versions are available in English, plus translated versions available to download as PDFs in twenty different languages.  Click here for further information regarding these materials.