Cases of tuberculosis could spiral out of control in the borough unless more is spent to stamp it out now.

Barnet, Enfield and Haringey Health Authority needs to invest more than £300,000 to halt the rapid increase in cases of the disease, according to its director of public health Dr Keith Baker.

Speaking at the health authority's AGM on November 22, Dr Baker said: "To all ends and purposes there is a TB epidemic in Haringey and rates in Barnet and Enfield are not anything to shout about."

In June, 37 people were called back to Barnet Hospital amid fears they may have caught TB from another patient. No further cases were discovered.

At 21 cases per 100,000, Barnet is well below the London average but that is no cause for complacency, says Dr Baker.

"The cost of not dealing with it early is a lot more than addressing it now," he said.

"It is a very serious disease which, if it doesn't kill you, will certainly cripple you and take you out of circulation for a long time. But it is eminently treatable."

He set out a £312,000 shopping list to halt the trend including an increase in TB nurses and chest physicians, improved diagnosis and treatment and free medication.

But Dr John Brett, chairman of the Barnet Local Medical Committee, said: "The big issue for us in general practice is that we are finding it very difficult getting people immunised. The fact it is treatable now is fine, but if there are drug resistant strains coming along, then immunisation is going to be even more important."

November 28, 2001 19:52

IAN LLOYD