Group raises awareness for world TB day

A group of UNC students has banded together to increase awareness of tuberculosis, and its first effort will hit campus today.

The Tuberculosis Awareness Group, a student organization founded last fall, will spread information in the Pit today about the disease in honor of World Tuberculosis Day.

Tuberculosis is a respiratory disease that is spread through coughing and sneezing. Each year, 2 million people die from the illness.

World Tuberculosis Day commemorates Robert Koch’s 1882 discovery of tuberculosis. The day was established in 1993 after tuberculosis was declared a worldwide health emergency.

Erica Chapin, president of the group, said members will answer basic questions and spread basic facts about the disease. Members will sell T-shirts, with the proceeds funding tuberculosis research.

Chapin said she was first inspired to spread awareness about the disease when it touched her life two years ago.

“The more you find out about it, the better,” she said. “It’s curable, it’s treatable, but because of the poverty in the areas where it is rampant, it’s harder to address the problem.”

The Tuberculosis Awareness Group already has started to make an impact.

The group has assembled care packages that are being sent to tuberculosis patients in North Carolina. Chapin said the packages most likely will go to homeless people who are afflicted with the disease.

“Patients have to undergo two weeks of isolation before treatment,” Chapin said. “They are unlikely to have the essentials needed during this time.”

Chapin said she hopes the event will increase education and awareness.

“I hope we will choose specific countries to center on and develop international service projects, as well as spread the word around the state and the community,” she said.

Catie Reed, resource chairwoman for the group, said that she had a friend who was directly affected by tuberculosis and that she was interested in spreading information to the public.

“We really hope to spread awareness and let people know what TB is and let them know that it is curable,” she said. “It doesn’t have to be such a widespread epidemic.”

Miriam Braunstein, faculty adviser for the group and a professor in the School of Medicine, said she is proud of Chapin and all the students working on the project.

“I think it reflects very well on how UNC undergrads have a global perspective,” she said. “(Tuberculosis) is a big problem outside of the U.S., and sometimes we don’t even think about it.”

Chapin said she hopes the event will be a springboard for tuberculosis awareness on campus.

“I encourage people to come out to hear about TB if they haven’t heard about it before and have questions or just want to know more.”

Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.