McGill University launches new International TB Centre

The Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre is launching its International TB Centre with a special event this evening. They’re hosting a Scientific Café, bringing experts together with the public to talk about the disease of tuberculosis, from its social implications to the state of treatment in Canada and around the world.March 24th is World TB Day, but tuberculosis doesn’t get discussed much in Canada’s urban centres, where people suffering with the disease are few.

In Canada’s aboriginal communities, however, particularly those in the north, TB is still taking lives.  For both Inuit communities and immigrant communities from countries where TB is prevalent, quick diagnosis and treatment are paramount.

Dr. Marcel Behr is the Director of McGill’s International TB Centre. He says bringing testing and diagnostic capacity to the north is one of the recent initiatives to fight the disease, instead of leaving people waiting for days while tests are transported to the south for analysis and results.

The centre will convene and co-ordinate the findings of people working around the world in a variety of fields related to the disease, from public health initiatives to the latest in scientific research to the social workers watching the effect of the condition on the frontlines. It will improve communication between people who are working in complementary areas and further the effort to eradicate a disease that is still a global killler.