Dear Colleagues and Friends,   
  
  On behalf of the many individuals and organizations that constitute   CREATE, the Consortium to Respond Effectively to the AIDS-TB   Epidemic,   I am pleased to present this overview and summary of our activities.
  
  The tuberculosis and HIV epidemics have collided catastrophically in many   developing countries, resulting in enormous suffering and   death. CREATE   is a global initiative that is trying to reverse the worsening   course of the   TB/HIV co-epidemics.
  
  CREATE was launched by Nelson Mandela at the International AIDS   Conference in Bangkok in July, 2004.  Mr. Mandela described his own   experience as a TB patient, and advocated a vigorous assault on TB   and   HIV, stating “We cannot fight AIDS unless we do much more to fight TB
  as well.”

  CREATE has begun implementing research projects to assess the impact of novel public health paradigms for   controlling HIV-related TB.  Over the next five years, the CREATE projects will produce critically important   information about the impact of these new strategies on TB control in areas affected by HIV.  The CREATE   projects are bold in concept, large in scope and targeted at producing population-level benefits.  The CREATE   research teams and supporting Cores are comprised of dedicated and talented individuals   committed to   changing the trajectory of the TB/HIV epidemic, working in close collaboration with local and   national health   authorities, clinicians and representatives of the affected communities.

  Through our Policy and Advocacy Core, CREATE is working closely with the World Health Organization (WHO)   and the Stop-TB Partnership to use the fruits of the research effort to shape and influence global public   health policy through evidence-based advocacy.  Thus, CREATE will identify the public health strategies that   can reduce rates of HIV-related TB in those parts of the world suffering from the tragic overlap of these two   epidemics and will advocate to restructure the public health responses to TB/HIV on the basis of the new   information generated by our research.

  The scope of the TB/HIV problem is enormous, and the goals of CREATE are correspondingly ambitious.  We   are committed to developing new paradigms of public health practice that will drive down the global  burden of   HIV-related TB for years to come.  We welcome your interest in our mission and invite you to   learn more   about our activities through this website.

  Sincerely yours,
  Richard E. Chaisson, MD, Principal Investigator, CREATE
  Professor of Medicine, Epidemiology and International Health
  Johns Hopkins University Center for TB Research