BD launches online tuberculosis donation campaign

BD has launched a new online campaign to support its efforts to provide donations of diagnostics tools that are vital in combating tuberculosis (TB) worldwide.

To mark World TB Day, which takes place today (March 24th 2011), the medical technology firm has pledged to donate one of its BACTEC MGIT mycobacterial detection systems for every visitor to a specially established website.

These contributions will be made to one of the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (Find) or the Earth Institute at Columbia University, BD's collaborative partners, with a potential total donation of up to 20,000 tubes being offered.

Contributions such as these will aid the organisations in their efforts to improve standards of TB diagnosis in some of the world's poorest nations.

Vincent Forlenza, BD's president and chief operating officer, said: "Methods for diagnosing TB in resource-limited settings have gone unchanged for more than 115 years. BD is working closely with partners around the world, like Find and the Earth Institute, to change that."

This comes after the company pledged a donation to various humanitarian aid organisations last week to help support relief efforts in earthquake-stricken Japan.