Tuberculosis: New Approaches & Developments on 4th January, 2014

Dear Sir/Madam Subject: Request presence at Tuberculosis Awareness Program It is our privilege to invite you to the ‘Tuberculosis: New Approaches & Developments’ at Hotel Residency Towers, Sir Thiyagaraya Road, T. Nagar, Chennai on 4th January 2014 at 7 PM. As you are aware, TB continues to be one of the greatest public health challenges in India killing 1 person every 2 minutes and nearly 750 every day. With nearly 2 million TB cases each year, India leads the world in its burden of TB. It is also the cause of extensive economic losses and community suffering for the poor, especially women and children. The Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme (RNTCP) is widely acknowledged as one of the most successful programs in the country. However, a significant majority of patients continue to get treated in the private sector. Timely and accurate diagnosis is acknowledged as the one of the most effective interventions in controlling the disease burden. Yet, overuse of unreliable tests, low availability and high cost of reliable quality-assured diagnostics tools in the private sector, lack of awareness, and perverse commercial incentives prevent patients from accessing an early and accurate diagnosis of their condition. These result in unnecessarily high costs of care, delayed case finding or misdiagnosis and mistreatment, thereby contributing to avoidable loss of life, increased disease transmission, and growing rates of TB drug resistance. India accounts for over one-fifth of the global Multi Drug Resistant TB (MDR TB) burden, with indicators showing a rising trend. To address these critical issues, the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), has come together along with four of our partner diagnostic/hospital institutions in Chennai to raise awareness on the key issues in TB in the private sector through this event. This event will be attended by the community of physicians involved diagnosing and treating this deadly disease. The tentative agenda is as follows: Saturday, 4th January 2014 7:30 PM to 8:00 PM – Talk by Dr Soumya Swaminathan, Director - National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis 8:00 PM to 8:30 PM – Talk on ‘Proper Usage of WHO Diagnostics’, Speaker – TBD 8:30 PM to 9:00 PM – Q&A with Panel of Microbiologists, moderated by Dr Soumya Swaminathan 9:00 PM – Dinner follows Your presence will be critical to achieve enhanced TB prevention and control in Tamil Nadu. We look forward to your support and presence at the event. Sincerely, Y.R. Gaitonde Centre for AIDS Research and Education (YRG CARE) Hitech Diagnostic Center Bharat Scans & Specialties Lab SRM Institute for Medical Science Clinton Health Access Initiative