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It is never too late to give! I made the effort to keep going in my run, because I know the kind efforts you have all made, and continue to make, in donating... On Sunday 15th April 2012, I completed the Paris marathon (check out the gallery) in support of TB Alert, the UK’s only national and international tuberculosis charity.  As many of you will know, I have battled with asthma my whole life and suffered from pneumonia, so I know first-hand how debilitating it is to have compromised lungs. This is why I want to support TB Alert as, startlingly, TB still kills 1.4 million people every year around the world and orphans 9.7 million children each year – yet it is curable.  TB is an airborne disease so anyone can catch it and it can affect any part of your body, especially the lungs.  It commonly affects those living in poverty and people whose immune system is low and there is high prevalence of HIV/TB co-infection in the developing world.  These people are already marginalised and they need our help.    TB patients have to undertake at least 6 months of very strong antibiotics, which can make them very sick.  They could also develop multi drug resistant TB, or they could infect up to 15 others, so it is imperative that people get diagnosed  and treated as soon as possible.  It is madness - people are dying needlessly of a curable disease!  Growing up in London, I have always had the support of NHS care and access to the latest treatment options. Rates of TB are highest in Africa and India and one of the main reasons so many people die of TB is because they do not recognise the symptoms; they do not know how to access the treatment or that the treatment is free.  TB Alert has several projects in these countries, such as Murambinda hospital where just £10 will run the chest x-ray unit for a week. They also support an Information, Education and Communication van, which plays informational videos about TB to communities living in slums in Delhi.  £35 helps TB Alert pays for fuel and essential maintenance for the van for a week.  TB Alert also provides grants for people in the UK who are experiencing financial hardship – these grants cover travel costs to the hospital/clinic for their lifesaving treatment or helps to buy nutritious food – essential to help them recover.  For more information about TB and TB Alert, please go to www.tbalert.org We have to get the message out there to people that still TB exists but it is curable and treatment is free.    Please help TB Alert to save lives and support me as I take to the streets of Paris, for 26.2 miles to help raise awareness and funds for this great cause. Thank you so much - anything you can afford will be so gratefully received. Claire xx

Claire's Paris Marathon

Claire's Paris Marathon

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