No more money for new TB cases.

No more money for new TB cases.

www.telegraaf.nl

Not only the Dutch government has cut millions, but happened in the entire western world, due to the crisis. We have made preparations, and we have calculated what the minimal fundings should be.
Worldwide we need 20 billion dollars, and we only have 11 billion dollars.

(visit the link for the full news article)

( edit )
Link to the Royal Dutch TB fund :Main page in English...

They have not yet posted the above info in English.

Hi ATS.

The above is a translation of a Dutch article as I was unable to find it in an English news source yet.

Peter Gondrie, the director of the royal Dutch Tuberculosis fund gave this announcement expressing his concerns about the future.

The lack of proper funding will cause new TB cases to go untreated, and as a result patients will remain ill for much longer, making it more likely for them to develop a multi resistant strain of TB.

Basically what he says is this...

If you happen to be so unfortunate to get TB, you might be left without any treatment at all...

www.telegraaf.nl
(visit the link for the full news article)

I wanted to post the following information in addition to the news article.

We all know TB is bad but you can apperantly prevent it from happening.

1. The first thing that must be done is to make sure that as many as possible of the infectious persons in the population are discovered in the early stages by means of Mass X-ray examination, and for all these sufferers to be able to receive modern treatment, quickly and efficiently, with the minimum of discomfort, and without any cost to themselves (for this is a community disease and the community should pay). It must be realised that the treatment of the Tuberculosis patient by modern drugs can often render them non-infectious and this is to the benefit of the community as much as to the benefit of the patient. It is therefore in the interest of public health that this treatment should be completely free even when given at home.

Thus each year there would be fewer and fewer infectious persons walking about unaware that they are a source of danger to their own and other people's health. This is a very important first step.

Well I don't think this is gonna happen... Since we just been told they are about 9 billion dollar short...

2. The second thing is to make every effort to prevent people from falling sick with this disease in the first place. So, we shall have to take drastic steps to get rid of the bad, damp, insanitary houses, the low wages, inadequate pay, industrial fatigue, the worry about the future, and especially the fear about slump and war. All these things - these blots on our way of life-must become a thing of the past. If we falter in this task we are helping to perpetuate Tuberculosis-wasting money on treatment as well as wasting lives. For prevention of this disease requires a great increase in the housing programme, full employment and a rising standard of living for all. Money spent in this way is a sound investment from the point of view of Health and the National Budget.

So really everyone of us is vitally concerned as individuals, as well as citizens, in some way or another. In this problem we just cannot afford to leave it to the Doctors, the Officials, or the Government, however wonderful their promises or intentions may be. Both as possible future victims and also as fighters in this great campaign for the final defeat of this, the last great infectious disease of our time, the responsibility is YOURS, and OURS, ALL OF US.

Source :

Is it me or did I just walked head on another conspiracy here ?... Anyway.. Disturbing to say the least.

And for those that think TB isn't that big of a problem...

Tuberculosis cases have hit their highest levels in the UK for 30 years, according to official figures published today.

Last year there were 9,040 TB cases in the UK, said the Health Protection Agency. A total of 8,621 people were infected in 2008. TB campaigners said the rise in the number of cases was shocking and called for more work to alert people, including doctors, to the possibility of infection.

Concern is also growing about the rise in drug-resistant cases spreading around the world. Cases where the disease does not respond to the commonly used antibiotics take longer than the usual six months to treat and require more expensive drugs. The number of drug-resistant infections has nearly doubled in a decade from 206 in 2000 to 389 in 2009. Cases resistant to more than one antibiotic (multi-drug resistant) have gone up from 28 in 2000 to 58 in 2009. Multi-drug resistant TB can require treatment lasting as long as 18 months.

UK tuberculosis cases at 30-year high

~Sinter

Am I missing something? They can't make consolidated cuts from elsewhere? Multiple sources for incremental cuts? Very strange...

I had a TB skin test 2 months ago for my nursing program, tested barely positive but had a negative chest x ray. Seems at some point I may have been exposed but my immune system, thankfully, is doing it's job. The other thing is that I have allergies, and the TB skin test may have overreacted due to the allergies I have. Being a massage therapist for 12 years, I was sure that I could have picked this up sometime during that time period. But the RN that did my test said that TB is everywhere, most people have been exposed and don't know it, and anyone that ventures anywhere that people congregate will be at risk. Unfortunately, the drug treatment include strong antibiotics for 9 months that will kill off all good bacteria in the body and cause liver and kidney problems.

Do you know of any alternative treatments for TB? I've worked a lot with essential oils, vitamins, minerals and herbs, but I've not looked into any treament for this that would be outside of the standard treatment. Even going into nursing, I know I will become exposed to much more, and probably TB again, and the thought of having to go on this course of treatment is very discouraging. The problem with self treatment, is that the community public health departments here in the US require all health providers to report anyone with a possitive result, and then require the antibiotic treatment. This sucks because the treatment is just as bad as the disease itself!!!

reply to post by Sinter Klaas


Good Find. The same thing is happening in Florida, we are closing the A.G. Holley Hospital in Florida because of the budget shortfalls. It is pretty big news in the Health and Government circles here, because they don't know what to do with the TB patients. They can't scatter them about, and no other hospital is equipped to handle all of them. There are a lot of news articles if you google it.

Link
Link
Link

reply to post by justsaying

Do you know of any alternative treatments for TB? I've worked a lot with essential oils, vitamins, minerals and herbs, but I've not looked into any treament for this that would be outside of the standard treatment

I think there is a guy that claims to cure it with a strong chlorine concoction. It is supposed to cure malaria and possibly cancer. Of course the treatment is often worse than the ailment, it is a very strong cocktail of free radical chlorine.

I think there are some posts on ATS about it. I believe it was some type of "tetra-chloride" that can be ingested or administered IV.

I am not condoning its use, the more I read about it, the scarier it sounded, but supposedly he has had success in places without normal healthcare or Western medicine.

reply to post by justsaying


As a matter of fact... There is a way to prevent TB. I never heard of it before, but member Defcon5 was so kind to make me aware of it this afternoon in chat.

There is a vaccine on the market that will make you immune for about 15 years.

Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (or Bacille Calmette-Guérin , BCG ) is a vaccine against tuberculosis that is prepared from a strain of the attenuated (weakened) live bovine tuberculosis bacillus, Mycobacterium bovis , that has lost its virulence in humans by being specially cultured in an artificial medium for years. The bacilli have retained enough strong antigenicity to become a somewhat effective vaccine for the prevention of human tuberculosis. At best, the BCG vaccine is 80% effective in preventing tuberculosis for a duration of 15 years; however, its protective effect appears to vary according to geography.

Source - Wikipedia

reply to post by getreadyalready


That's very disturbing. Maybe they will start to realize that health is not meant for making profits.

I just have a hard time understanding one thing...

How is it working with that health care thing over there ? TB is a disease right ? Obviously people get sick, so insurance companies should create means to get those people aid.

What I understand is that this is a major problem, and just like in the past countless of people will become sick, unable to make a living and die... Especially when the resistant strains of TB are starting to cross the pond. It is already spreading across Europe.

( Edit to add )

Congratulations with your new status. Way to go !