Islington TB rate rockets 133%

12.00.00am GMT Wed 24th Mar 2004

The number of cases of tuberculosis in Islington has rocketed by 133% in the last decade according to shock figures revealed to the Liberal Democrats. In 1993, there were 48 reported cases of tuberculosis in the borough. There are now 112 cases when preliminary figures were last recorded in 2002 - a rise of 64 cases. The figures also revealed that England and Wales are the only countries in the European Union where cases of tuberculosis have increased in the past decade. Councillor Terry Stacy, Islington's Liberal Democrat candidate for the GLA elections, said: "These figures showing the massive rise in TB cases in Islington are truly shocking. "In the 1980's and 1990's TB was almost eradicated as a first world disease, and almost obliterated from London and the UK. It is almost always the most vulnerable in society who contract TB and without a major effort by all agencies this will continue to blight our borough. "For too long, the Government and London's Mayor have ignored the spread of a disease throughout the capital that can be tackled with basic preventative measures such as improved housing and better information. "Without a concerted effort by all services, from the Mayor, to Ministers to health, education and social services, London will start to revert to a bygone Victorian era when hygiene-related diseases were commonplace and untreatable." The Facts The figures on TB cases are taken from a table highlighted by the Department of Health in Parliamentary Hansard 2 Mar 2004 : Column 866W