27 February 2012 - Lucknow, India - Citizen News Service (CNS) has published a summary of responses to an online consultation on how to prevent tuberculosis (TB) in children.
Getting to zero new TB infections in children by 2015 is the first of two online consultations that CNS is facilitating in the run up to World TB Day on 24 March.
The first consultation received 114 comments from more than 17 countries. Key issues discussed include risk factors for childhood TB, the need to cure adults with TB to prevent childhood TB, training health workers and the Patient's Charter for TB Care.
"Preventing new TB infections in children needs more than a medical response," said Bobby Ramakant, Director of Policy and Programmes at CNS. "This is why we facilitated the online consultation and other interviews to document the voices and perspectives of parents and other care providers of children with TB. Affected communities know best and are equal partners in the fight against TB."
The second consultation, Getting to zero TB deaths in children by 2015 is now open for comments until 11 March. Participants are invited to share their views on how to achieve zero deaths from TB in children by 2015.