MEDIA RELEASE
Released By:
McMullan
Australians are being reminded that tuberculosis remains a significant global problem.
The Parliamentary Secretary for International Development Assistance, Bob McMullan, today officially opened an exhibition focusing on the lives of people living with TB.
'We are now seeing the emergence of multi-drug resistant strains of TB in Papua New Guinea, while East Timor, Cambodia and Kiribati have some of the highest rates of TB infection in the world,' Mr McMullan said.
'The Australian Government is committed to supporting our neighbours tackle tuberculosis and other communicable diseases in our region.
'Our contributions to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria have helped save the lives of more than two million people. Since its establishment six years ago, the Global Fund has provided 1.4 million people with anti-retroviral treatment for HIV and treated 3.3 million people for tuberculosis.
'We are very aware of the importance of integrating our responses to HIV and TB as people living in poverty with AIDS are 50 times more likely to contract TB,' said Mr McMullan.
Tuberculosis kills two million people each year. It is preventable and curable, yet infection rates are on the rise in many developing countries.
The disease has enormous social and economic impacts. Approximately 75 per cent of illness and death from tuberculosis occurs between the ages of 15 and 54 - the most economically productive years. At the national level, the loss of productivity due to tuberculosis can be in the order of four to seven per cent of gross domestic product.
The photographic exhibition is housed in a shack - a replica of township housing in Cape Town, South Africa.
The Australian Government's international development assistance agency AusAID and anti-poverty advocacy group RESULTS Australia are supporting the exhibition.
It is on display at Parliament House in Canberra ahead of World TB Day on 24 March.
Media contacts: Sabina Curatolo (Mr McMullan's Office) 0400 318 205
AusAID Public Affairs 0417 680 590