Publish date: 8 March 2023
"We need to take every opportunity" to tackle TB in the borough, Ealing councillors have said.
Currently Ealing has the second highest prevalence for tuberculosis in the whole of London, and the Ealing TB Awareness Service has been working hard to keep the issues on residents' minds.
Staff from the service, which is run by Ealing Community Partners, held a productive outreach session at the West London Islamic Centre last Friday (24 February) to try and target more of the population.
Their aim is to increase awareness of TB in Ealing and reduce the associated stigma with early intervention being key to tackling the infectious disease.
As part of the outreach session, councillors from Ealing Council were invited to meet with the TB Awareness team to look at how the council and NHS can work closer together.
Cllr Ghulam Murtaza said the bacteria which causes TB can remain in the system for a long time and causes infection when immunity is low.
He explained residents need to be cautious if they were born in a TB country or visited one recently or their parents were born there.
In Southall, issues like diabetes and homelessness mean residents are more vulnerable to the spread of TB.
But Ealing councillors in attendance at the event praised the investment from the NHS into Ealing services and said we need to look at non-traditional routes to reach people.
Cllr Daniel Crawford, who chairs the Health and Adult Social Services Standing Scrutiny Panel, said: "It's been a real pleasure for me as a councillor on the health committee in Ealing to see the excellent work of the TB Awareness Service here at the West London Islamic Centre.
"There's a lot of passion from staff ensuring we spread positive health messages to make sure people get tested.
"It's concerning that we have such a high prevalence rate of TB in Southall, the second highest prevalence in London.
"We all need to work together to tackle this problem, not just in GP practices, but everywhere in the community."
He added: "The key messages are - if you're yet to be tested make sure you book in - also make sure you have those discussions with friends and family members.
"If we stop it early, everyone in Ealing will be able to lead healthier lives."
Abdi Ali, Health Improvement Facilitator at West London NHS Trust, said: “The West London Islamic Centre event was a success. Our message reached over 2000 people. A high number referred to their GP and we booked their latent TB test. I have noticed that many people are unaware about TB symptoms and the high rate of TB in the community and so we need to continue reaching out to people to spread awareness about TB.”
You can find out more about Ealing TB Awareness here.