Correspondence of UKAPTB with members of parliament
Written by Neilay Bhalerao on 13th April, 2026.
Over the past few months great deal of advocacy has been carried out by our executive chair Jessica Potter. I encourage you to get inspired and write to your local MPs in your area to make sure tuberculosis remains on the agenda, especially in these pressing times of crisis!
Letter to Rt. Hon Keir Starmer MP
2. Letter to The Right Honourable Sharon Hodgson, MP
3.Email correspondence with Kate Osamor MP
Dear Kate,
I am writing to ask you as my MP, and on behalf of the national advocacy organisation I chair (UKAPTB), to urge ministers to ensure the forthcoming National TB Action Plan 2026-2031 is properly funded.
I understand that a ministerial round table of sorts will be held in the coming couple of weeks to discuss TB in the UK, specifically policy decisions around the soon to be published TB action plan 2026-2030. I am unsure who will be attending that meeting.
As you know, TB remains the world’s deadliest infectious disease, with over 10 million cases and 1.4 million deaths each year, including 200,000 children. In recent years, TB rates across the UK have increased and the latest figures show we have now lost our WHO low incidence status. TB tends to affect people of working age impacting their ability to stay in work and can result in long-term health impacts. TB is preventable and curable through screening of at-risk populations, early diagnosis of infectious TB and access to effective treatment.
The recent Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) review for TB in England highlights significant, unwarranted variation in TB services across regions, longstanding workforce shortages, inconsistent access to rapid diagnostics, fragmented care pathways, and under-resourced prevention programmes. GIRFT also demonstrates that investment in early detection, integrated TB services, and workforce capacity would not only improve patient outcomes but deliver better value for money for the NHS by reducing hospital admissions, treatment complications, and onward transmission.
TB elimination is achievable. Countries that have invested consistently in TB control demonstrate that incidence can be driven down rapidly when prevention, diagnosis, and treatment are properly resourced. The UK now faces a critical moment: without decisive action and funding, rising TB rates will continue to undermine public health, increase healthcare costs, and deepen health inequalities.
The success of previous TB strategies has shown that progress is only possible when policy commitments are matched with ring-fenced resources. We therefore ask ministers attending the upcoming parliamentary roundtable to commit to fully funding the forthcoming TB Action Plan and to recognise TB control as a high-impact investment in population health, workforce productivity, and NHS sustainability.
Yours sincerely,
Jess
4.FCDO Ministerial response to the correspondence of 24th October by Rt. Hon. Baroness Chapman of Darlington
Thank you all the mentioned MPs for your time and attention. This shows that together through consistent efforts we can move one step closer to end Tuberculosis!
