OneWorld.net (U.S.)

Cape Town: A new prize for journalism was announced at the World Conference of the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (IUALTD) by the Stop TB and Lilly MDR partnerships.

The award will recognize reporting and commentary in print and on the web that increases public knowledge of TB and resistant strains of the disease in developing countries.

One-fifth of the world’s tuberculosis cases are concentrated in India – two people in the country die every three minutes of the disease.

Roughly 3% of India’s 1.8 million annual new cases are thought to be multi-drug resistant (MDR), but for 12% of people in whom TB recurs have the drug resistant strain.

The World Health Organisation estimates that during a lifetime a person infected with MDR-TB will infect 20 others. This is a matter of concern because India’s population density is so high.

“India is one of the top three high burden countries in the world and population growth is huge. More than the national TB programme, it’s a problem of society, of making sure everyone in India is aware of TB. And I don’t think we are yet there,” Dr. Marcos Espinal, Executive Secretary of the World Health Organisation hosted Stop TB Partnership, told The Hindu.

The award winners will be announced at the next IUALTD conference in November 2008. Articles must be printed between March 1, 2007 and March 31, 2008 and the entry deadline is April 30, 2008.

The award carries a cash prize of $3,000. Entrants must be resident in the country where the article is published and write in English or Hindi with an English translation.

“We deny TB is there,” Stop TB Ambassador Anna Cataldi told reporters. “But this disease from the past still exists. TB is curable. Sharing information helps prevent the disease and get treatment to those who need it.”

Source: The Hindu