The Lilly MDR-TB Partnership, a global public-private partnership that was formed in 2003 to address the expanding global crisis of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB), will be hosting a week long photo exhibition in Cape Town to commemorate the start of World TB month in March.
This photo exhibition, which will be open to the public at Tygervalley Shopping Centre between Monday 2nd and Sunday 8th March, will give South Africans insight into the true impact of TB and MDR-TB locally. This photo exhibition was commissioned by the Lilly MDR-TB Partnership in each of the four hardest hit countries globally, namely China, India, Russia and South Africa.
Every year, nearly 2 million people die from tuberculosis which is a curable disease. Poor adherence to the necessary drug regimen and interrupted treatment are widespread problems in resource-constrained countries. These problems not only keep patients from being cured of the disease but can also lead to multi-drug resistant strains of TB which require even longer and more complex treatment. Conservative estimates indicate that about 500 000 new cases of MDR-TB arise every year, and that the average person with the disease infects up to 15 other people during his or her lifetime1.
Cape Town photographer Damien Schumann was commissioned for this project by the Lilly MDR-TB Partnership. Through the lens of his camera, Damien has captured the despair, heartache and suffering inflicted on so many South Africans by this deadly, but curable disease. He has also managed to capture images of hope, to reinforce that, with correct and managed treatment regimes and education, sufferers can survive. Damien has also done extensive work in the fields of TB and HIV for several other organisations including the Desmond Tutu Tuberculosis Centre, The World Health Organisation, Stop TB Partnership, UNAIDS, Medicins sans Frontiers and the World Lung Foundation.
“The growing incidence of multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) in South Africa highlights the urgent need for more effective measures for preventing, identifying, diagnosing and treating TB. This is a collective responsibility and not something to be left to healthcare givers or the Ministry of Health - everyone can contribute to the fight.
Through this national photographic exhibition, which depicts the face of TB in South Africa, Lilly hopes to raise awareness of this disease amongst all South Africans,” says Lilly's MDR-TB project co-ordinator, Tintswalo Shikwambane.
“Any effort to fight a disease must start with awareness that the disease exists. We all must accept the fact that TB could infect any one of us. This rational acknowledgement of our collective and individual vulnerability says that we must care for each other, and hold hands to fight TB. The Lilly MDR-TB partnership aims to raise awareness of the existence of MDR-TB and to help increase humanity's ability to prevent, diagnose and treat this curable but potentially fatal disease,” says Dr Zi Chapanduka, Medical, Regulatory and Corporate Affairs Director at Lilly South Africa.
“In addition to the efforts made within the Lilly MDR-TB Partnership, the Lilly TB Drug Discovery initiative works to speed-up the discovery of molecules which will eventually be developed into anti-TB drugs. Without such new drugs, it may only be a matter of time before TB strains are resistant to all the known TB drugs. This not-for-profit initiative has already yielded some highly promising new drugs for further development,” Dr Chapanduka continues.
Damien's collection of photographs will be showcased along with contributions from China, India and Russia at the Stop TB Partners Forum in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil over World TB day on 24th March.
The exhibition in Cape Town will be free of charge to the public and will be open during normal shopping hours at Tygervalley Shopping Centre from 2nd - 9th March 2009.
This exhibition will also be taken to Durban, Nelspruit and Johannesburg throughout World TB Month this March.
For any enquiries about this exhibition, please contact Leigh Hopewell at The Write Agency
011 467 5367 or on
