16/10/08 - The Tuberculosis Survival Project (TBSP) is pleased to announce the winner of the first Tuberculosis Survival Prize. The Tuberculosis Survival Prize 2008 was awarded to Speranta Terrei, a Moldovian NGO in the city of Balti. They will recieve $2,000 and a certificate. The two runners up are ZAMBART and Benjamin Ocaya. They will both also receive a certificate. This new annual award is supported by a grant from Eli Lilly and Company and is to recognize innovation in tuberculosis (TB) advocacy and social mobilization. The award will be presented at a reception in Paris on the eve of 39th Union World Conference on Lung Health.
Speranta Terrei, meaning 'hope of the land', is a grassroots organization. Every year it reaches about 16,000 Moldovans with messages on recognizing TB symptoms and preventing transmission. In cooperation with TB dispensaries, Speranta Terrei sends treatment supporters called moderators (often former TB patients themselves) to patient's homes along with the days medication. These moderators are community members who function as intermediaries and peer councellors, bringing the correct dosage and words of encouragement to those on the TB treatment journey. Feodora Rodiucova, President of Speranta Terrei said:"All members of Speranta Terrei are overjoyed and full of gratitude on the awarding of the Tuberculosis Survival Prize to our organization. We accept the prize in the name of TB patients and the many students, practitioners, and community members of Balti who conducted information campaigns on TB and who helped TB patients to complete treatment."
The winner of the Tuberculosis Survival Prize was judged by a panel of seven people representative of the wider TB community from all over the world. The process of deciding the winner was chaired by Nobel Prize Laureate Betty Williams. The prize will be accepted on behalf of Speranta Terrei of Moldova by Gerry R. Elsdon, South African media celebrity and TB Survivor. Mrs Elsdon said: "It has been such an honour and so encouraging to read through the applications for the Tuberculosis Survival Prize, often one feels so isolated in your work toward combating TB and knowing that there are individuals and organizations around the world alongside you, to improve the lives of their communities, and to change the world perception of TB and sufferers has given me so much hope. I feel stronger and enthused to have brothers and sisters working toward one common goal, to Stop TB."
