Over the past few years the importance and urgency to involve HIV/TB, TB/MDR-TB affected communities in the fight against TB has been recognised. Everyone has a role to play in this battle. Many HIV/TB, TB/MDR-TB advocates and activists, small NGOs and the role that they play, however, goes unrecognised. The Tuberculosis Survival Prize rewards the innovative work of one of these unsung heroes, heroines, or dynamic NGOs and to make a contribution towards those efforts.
The Tuberculosis Survival Prize is an annual award, supported by a grant from Eli Lilly and Company. The Prize recognizes innovation in TB/MDR-TB advocacy and social mobilization. The award winner receives a certificate and $2000 to scale up and/or replicate their advocacy efforts.
Winner 2010
TB PhotoVoice was awarded the Tuberculosis Survival Prize 2010 at an awards ceremony in Berlin, Germany.
The US-based NGO was founded by Romel Lacson in 2005 following the death of his wife, Claudia, and their prematurely-born daughter, Emma, due to complications of TB. Using a method called “photovoice”, people affected by TB document their own health realities by taking photographs of the people, places, objects and systems that affect their TB care and treatment. Participants then share their photographs and knowledge with one another, and together craft locally-relevant recommendations for improved TB diagnosis, effective and compassionate person-centered treatment, and ultimately, the elimination of TB. The project currently has active groups in Mexico, South Africa, Thailand, Philippines, Brazil and the United States.
Winner 2009Integrated Development in Focus (DIF) won the TB Survival Prize 2009 for its innovative and empowering campaigns in uplifting communities affected by tuberculosis (TB) and multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB).
Based in Accra, Ghana, DIF is dedicated to the reduction of poverty and the empowerment of people. The organization works across Ghana, focusing on TB and MDR-TB, TB and HIV co-infection, and malaria. DIF has arranged many awareness and education campaigns at community events, which are made sustainable via almost 300 DIF-trained volunteers. It also complements the work of the National Health Service by reaching the country’s most remote villages, and has to date referred more than 600 people for TB testing, over 200 of which have proved to be infected with TB and are now under treatment.
On winning the Prize Josephine Abgo, President of DIF, said “This award marks another milestone in the annals of the work of Integrated Development in Focus and it is our joy to receive the TB Survival Prize for 2009. Working in TB is really a challenging field that requires effective collaborative efforts from all key and community stake holders, not that alone, but also committed community involvement and participation. For DIF, the award means that it can continue and expand its existing work in Ghana. It gives us a sense of recognition, fulfilment and motivation to do more in the fight against TB, for development is about people."
Winner 2008
In 2008 the Prize was won by Speranta Terrei of Moldova. It was accepted on behalf of the organization by South African media celebrity and TB survivor Gerry Elsdon in Paris.
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 day’s medication. These moderators are community members who function as intermediaries and peer counsellors, bringing the correct dosage and words of encouragement to those on the TB treatment journey. In 2008 on winning the prize, 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."
