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Businesses urged to join fight against tuberculosis

LONDON: Businesses around the world have been urged to play a more active role in tackling health problems among their workforce, especially in the fight against tuberculosis which, after HIV/AIDS, kills more people than any other infectious disease.

A report, launched by the World Economic Forum and its Global Health Initiative here on Wednesday ahead of the World TB Day later this month, noted that despite some progress in tackling the disease it remained a “stubborn threat” to public health, particularly in developing countries.

In 2006, TB killed 1.6 million people and affected a further 6 to 8 million. More worryingly, it has formed what the report calls a “lethal alliance with HIV/AIDS” and is responsible for almost ten per cent of AIDS-related deaths.

“TB’s worst impacts are felt in developing countries,” the report said pointing out that Multi-drug Resistant TB, which was harder and more expensive to fight than non-resistant TB, had emerged as a “significant threat,” especially in the former Soviet Union region, Eastern Europe, Central Asia and China.

India accounts for one-fifth of the new TB cases reported around the world every year and, according to the government’s own figures, the direct economic cost of TB to the society is more than $ 3 billion .

Besides, the country loses 100 million productive workdays every year because of TB.

The WEF/GHI report, prepared by David E. Bloom of the Harvard School of Public Health with contributions from GHI’s Shaloo Puri Kamble and Tanya Mourier, highlights the scale of the threat to businesses from TB and suggests how they can tackle it. It comes against a growing awareness among business leaders of the idea of “corporate social responsibility” and a realisation that it also makes good business sense for them to make sure that their workers are healthy.

The GHI, founded in 2002 by the World Economic Forum to bring together companies, governments and NGOs to tackle HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria, points out that a sick workforce can have a debilitating impact for businesses in terms of “lost revenues, increased costs, lost productivity and increased absenteeism.”

“Each disease reduces the livelihood of affected individuals, their families and ultimately their community,” it says.

Professor Bloom, presenting the report, reminded businesses of the famous adage that “dead customers don’t buy.”

Indeed, more and more employers were realising this with one in every three business leader said to be “concerned” about the effect of TB on their companies, according to the WEF survey.

In India, the Indian Business Alliance to Stop TB (IBA), comprising some of the country’s leading business houses, is working with government agencies, NGOs, the Confederation of Indian Industries and the WHO to tackle TB among their employees and create public awareness.

Shrinivas M. Shanbhag, medical adviser of Reliance Industries, said his company’s TB programme, launched in 2003, had been “very successful.” Encouraged by its success, the company was expanding the scheme and taking it to the larger community.

The report recognises the work already being done by businesses in combating TB but emphasises that more needs to be done — prevention being always better than cure.

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