XDRTB.org's Content

James Nachtwey's Searing Pictures of War

XDRTB.org — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 13:50:32 -0700

Accepting his 2007 TED Prize, war photographer James Nachtwey shows his life’s work.

Obama and McCain make statements on TB

XDRTB.org — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 13:43:33 -0700

Spurred by James Nachtwey's powerful photographs and RESULTS.org, the two major US presidential candidates, John McCain and Barack Obama, released statements yesterday detailing their plans for fighting TB.

From John McCain's statement:

As President, I will ensure that treatment and prevention programs are funded at levels befitting a wealthy and great nation. I will have a sustained commitment to helping people in need in Africa, Asia, and elsewhere cope with the ravages of this devastating disease.

From Barack Obama's statement:

I will strengthen the health care infrastructure crucial to reducing the spread of tuberculosis and increase U.S. funding for the Global Fund - a partnership that's already saved millions of lives from HIV/AIDS, malaria and TB. We'll meet the Millennium Development Goals, which include halving the number of tuberculosis deaths. And we will live up to our commitment to the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).

Read both full statements below >>

From Barack Obama:

Barack Obama Statement at the TED Conference on Commitment to Fighting TB
October 3, 2008

Today, I congratulate the TED Conference and James Nachtwey on their efforts to highlight the importance of preventing the spread of tuberculosis. TB claims 1.7 million lives each year, and eliminating it will be a global challenge - but it's a challenge we must take on. When I am President, I will strengthen the health care infrastructure crucial to reducing the spread of tuberculosis and increase U.S. funding for the Global Fund - a partnership that's already saved millions of lives from HIV/AIDS, malaria and TB. We'll meet the Millennium Development Goals, which include halving the number of tuberculosis deaths. And we will live up to our commitment to the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), a successful program that my running mate Joe Biden and I have long supported.

The annual TED conference brings together great minds and leaders in a mission to advance the American idea. It's time you had a Washington that did its part. As President, I will live up to our commitment to fighting this epidemic, and together, we will make it clear that America is ready to lead again.

From John McCain:

JOHN MCCAIN STATEMENT ON THE GLOBAL FIGHT AGAINST TUBERCULOSIS

Friday, October 3, 2008

ARLINGTON, VA - McCain-Palin 2008 today released the following statement from John McCain on the launch of TED Prize winner James Nachtwey's photos on extremely drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB):

"Tuberculosis is a devastating disease that accounts for nearly 2 million deaths a year. The painful and searing images of human suffering documented by James Nachtwey is another wake-up call for everyone around the globe to come together to meet their obligation to fight this disease. I honor him for his work. The lives of citizens of nations around the globe will be less prosperous and fulfilling without help to combat entrenched problems, such as tuberculosis, which afflicts poorer nations severely. It is critical that we face this crisis head-on with a committed global partnership. As President, I will ensure that treatment and prevention programs are funded at levels befitting a wealthy and great nation. I will have a sustained commitment to helping people in need in Africa, Asia, and elsewhere cope with the ravages of this devastating disease."

To stop XDR-TB, cure TB. To stop TB, cure poverty.

XDRTB.org — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 13:40:29 -0700

A powerful idea from the unveiling of James Nachtwey's photos of the XDR-TB epidemic on Friday night in New York City:

During the Q&A session with some TB experts and activists, an audience member asked: "We're talking about XDR-TB, but what about regular TB? What are we doing to cure that?"

Dr. Marcos Espinal of the Stop TB Project gave a direct answer:

"Cure poverty. Tuberculosis is a disease of the poor."

The list of specific risk factors for TB bears this out; you are more likely to catch TB if you are, for example, malnourished, living in crowded conditions or living in a refugee camp or shelter, or if you lack access to health care. It's a disease of the bottom billion. And so are TB's frightening new mutated forms, XDR-TB and MDR-TB -- because wiping out TB before it mutates costs ... $20.

To learn more, download these PDF factsheets about XDR-TB and MDR-TB and TB from the World Health Organization and its Stop TB Project. And find 3 quick ways to help at XDRTB.org -- such as signing a letter that will be sent directly to your country's leaders.

As Benjamin von Caspel wrote, when he told his friends about XDRTB.org via Twitter:

"James Nachtwey's TED prize project has gone live - http://www.xdrtb.org/ - Yet another reason to remember the bottom billion matter."

A message from James Nachtwey

XDRTB.org — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 13:29:51 -0700

James Nachtwey describes his recent campaign against TB and drug resistant TB.

XDRTB.org: Columbus Circle, NYC - October 3, 2008

XDRTB.org — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 13:20:13 -0700

Screening of James Nachtwey's photographs and launch of XDRTB.org. Photos by Robert Leslie, www.leslieimage.com

XDRTB.org

XDRTB.org — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 06:35:12 -0700

"Photographers aim their pictures at your best instincts: generosity, a sense of right and wrong, the ability and willingness to identify with others, the refusal to accept the unacceptable."
-James Nachtwey

XDRTB.org: 37 photographs. 3 minutes. Millions of lives to save.

XDRTB.org is an extraordinary effort to tell the story of extremely drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) and TB through powerful photographs taken by James Nachtwey. This is a vital story that the world needs to know about, if we are to stop this disease in its tracks. XDR-TB, or extremely drug-resistant tuberculosis, is a new and deadly mutation of tuberculosis. Similar in creation to multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) but more extreme in its manifestation, it arises when common tuberculosis goes untreated or standard TB drugs are misused. James’ photographs represent these varying strains. Learn more about XDRTB.org

James Nachtwey

Photojournalist James Nachtwey is considered by many to be the greatest war photographer of recent decades. He has covered conflicts and major social issues in more than 30 countries.

For the past three decades, James Nachtwey has devoted himself to documenting wars, conflicts and critical social issues, working in El Salvador, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Lebanon, the West Bank and Gaza, Israel, Indonesia, Thailand, India, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, the Philippines, South Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Rwanda, South Africa, Russia, Bosnia, Chechnya, Kosovo, Romania, Brazil and the United States.

Nachtwey has been a contract photographer with Time since 1984. However, when certain stories he wanted to cover -- such as Romanian orphanages and famine in Somalia -- garnered no interest from magazines, he self-financed trips there. He is known for getting up close to his subjects, or as he says, "in the same intimate space that the subjects inhabit," and he passes that sense of closeness on to the viewer.

In putting himself in the middle of conflict, his intention is to record the truth, to document the struggles of humanity, and with this, to wake people up and stir them to action. As he says: "I’m a witness and I want my testimony to be honest and uncensored. I also want it to be powerful and eloquent and to do as much justice as possible to the experience of the people I’m photographing."

When James Nachtwey was awarded the TED Prize in 2007, he was given $100,000 and one wish to change the world. He wished for our help in telling a vital story to the world, using powerful photos taken around the globe. This photography project and this site are the result of his wish.

About the TED Prize

When James Nachtwey was awarded the TED Prize in 2007, he was given $100,000 and one wish to change the world. This was his wish:

"I'm working on a story that the world needs to know about. I wish for you to help me break it in a way that provides spectacular proof of the power of news photography in the digital age."

The TED Prize was created as a way of taking the inspiration, ideas and resources that are generated at TED and using them to make a difference. Although the winners receive a prize of $100,000 each, that's the least of what they get. The real prize is that they are granted a WISH. A wish to change the world.

37 photographs. 3 minutes. Millions of lives to save.

XDRTB.org — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 11:07:50 -0700

Legendary photojournalist James Nachtwey sees his TED Prize wish come true, as we share his powerful photographs of XDR-TB, a new, drug-resistant strain of tuberculosis that's touching off a global medical crisis.