Letter from the Adviser
It is time to be honest with you. The fact is that I have been finding the presidential campaign in the USA far more interesting then life in the NHS and its latest round of health reform! It has been the most exciting and energetic of campaigns, with all the pantomime and glamour of the West End theatre and Broadway.
The importance of health care
Both US President-Elect, Barack Obama, and his Republican opponent, John McCain, have talked about future medical care in the USA and how it should be funded. With all the problems and difficulties experienced every day in the NHS, it is still a complete luxury to be seriously ill and not have to panic about escalating costs. Free at the point of need is enshrined in British legislation and long may this state of affairs continue.
For patients living in the UK who happen to have TB, and who might have been born in another country, it must be the most wonderful relief to be reassured that their treatment, however expensive, will be funded by the state.
Inequality between the rich and poor
But while we continue to welcome and support ‘free at the point of need’ health care, it is important for us to remember that social conditions are far from equal in the UK. In fact, the gap between the rich and the poor is as wide as it has ever been and, of course, it is the poor who are more vulnerable to TB than the more economically comfortable. Working in the field of TB, nurses face up to health inequalities every working day and you must be exasperated at the social conditions which put people at risk.
If we pop the simple matter of credit crunch and financial meltdown into the equation we immediately assume that rising rates of unemployment and therefore relative poverty are on the way. Does this mean that rising rates of TB will also occur? The truth is that, currently we have no idea whatsoever, but we need to keep on our guard and lobby against diminished public health and prevention of disease activities. It is so easy to cut public health budgets when the going gets tough, but in the longer term this is the worst possible action.
During these bizarre times we must keep our nerve and work hard to ensure that politicians do not take measures that threaten the public health. The various TB action plans need to be implemented quickly and with commitment from all concerned. The All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for TB has the full support of RCN members and we look forward to long-term sustained partnership working in our aspirations to control and manage TB better. There is much work to do.
With my best wishes.
Lynn Young