Student group raises awareness of current Tuberculosis research

The Princeton Tuberculosis Awareness Group, an undergraduate student organization that aims to spread awareness about tuberculosis in the community, is holding an informational event today.

From 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the 100 level of the Frist Campus Center, local and state health officials, students who have completed original research on the subject and others knowledgeable about TB on an international level will be available to speak and will offer students the chance to sign letters asking congressmen to support funding for TB treatment and prevention.

Emily Henkelman '04, PTAG's co-founder, stressed the importance of spreading awareness on campus. "It's a disease that has a cure. The problem is getting the treatment [to those who need it]."

The event coincides with World TB Day, an annual event held on March 24.

One third of the world's population is estimated to be infected with the bacteria that causes this disease, resulting in more than 2 million related deaths each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Globally, TB killed more people last year than any other year in history.

The disease remains one of the world's leading infectious diseases, and the emergence of drug-resistant strains threatens to return the world to an age in which TB will again be incurable.

TB accounts for more than one-third of AIDS deaths worldwide and is the leading cause of death among women.

Also present will be members of the Princeton Project '55 Tubercu-losis Initiative and RESULTS, a local citizen's advocacy group working to end hunger and poverty.

TBI is an independent, non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to increasing public awareness about tuberculosis, encouraging U.S. leadership in tuberculosis prevention and controlling and fostering tuberculosis vaccine development.

Meanwhile, Alan Riley '01, TBI Program Manager, said that 5000 people die each day, which equals one death every eight seconds.

Lauren Pellino '03 co-founded the PTAG a year and a half ago. PTAG helped to start a seminar on TB last semester offered through the Wilson School. After exploring TB and its world implications, participants carried out community-based independent projects.

One of PTAG's goals for the future is to hold events in concert with off-campus groups.

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TBI has also worked to raise the priority of TB, an oft-forgotten problem among Americans, within the U.S. government and the public eye.

The Project Chairs are Gordon Douglas, former President of Merck's Vaccines Division and Project Director and Ralph Nader.

According to Riley '01, much of TBI's efforts go to vaccine development as well. The current vaccine is more than 80 years old, and "we're not not sure how much good it does."