AstraZeneca and the Red Cross have joined forces in the fight against tuberculosis - the single largest cause of adult death from infectious disease in the world. The company has committed £300,000 over the next three years to helping the charity deliver a programme designed to help combat TB in Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan where over 9,400 new cases are diagnosed each year.

The initiative centres around four core objectives:

Plans include the distribution of information to homes, schools, factories and clinics about the preventative measures that can be taken against TB and the availability of free diagnosis and treatment.

Working with government health ministers, community leaders and schools, specific groups such as schoolchildren and factory workers will also be targeted through individual health education sessions.

Particular attention will also be given to such high risk groups as former prisoners and the homeless.

Training for Red Cross community health nurses will be provided so that they can better understand the disease and its treatment. They will play a key role in providing homecare and nutritional support (in the form of food parcels and hot meals) to TB patients.

The project is co-ordinated through the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent societies and will also be supported by the national Red Cross societies of the UK, US, Sweden and Spain.

The intention is that the programme will evolve and expand over three years to reach a total of some 100,000 people in Kyrgyzstan and 90,000 in Turkmenistan between 2002 and 2004.

Alongside our infection research investment in Boston, US and Bangalore, India, AstraZeneca's support to this programme represents another step in our commitment to playing a role in combating infectious diseases that affect the developing world.

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