World TB Day
There are days for everything. On Facebook, I saw a Happy Left-handed Day. I don’t take such days seriously (sorry left handers); I pay attention to days that raise awareness and profile of important issues such as World Aids Day, World TB Day, International Women’s Day. On World AIDS Day, I always have a silent minute of personal reflection to think of those that we have lost and those we are fighting to keep. Sometimes, I will do a little bit of fundraising or wear a red ribbon. On International Women’s Day, I participate in events or wear purple. But as important as World TB Day is, I am unsure about how to go about commemorating it.
World TB Day falls on March 24 each year. TB is one of the world’s top health challenges with 9 million new cases and 1.5 million deaths each year. The date commemorates the day in 1882 when Dr Robert Koch announced that he had discovered the cause of tuberculosis, the TB bacillus. At the time of Koch’s announcement in Berlin, TB was raging through Europe and the Americas, causing the death in one out of every seven people. His discovery marked a turning point in the diagnosis and treatment of TB.
There has been tremendous progress in recent years, and the world is on track to meet the Millennium Development Goal of reversing the spread of TB by 2015. But this is not enough. For World TB Day 2015, the United Nations, the Stop TB Partnership and the World Health Organisation are calling on all governments and health organisations to mobilise political and social commitment for further progress towards eliminating the disease as a public health burden. This year’s theme—‘Reach the 3 Million: Reach, Treat, Cure Everyone’—aims at securing care for the three million people who fail to be treated every year and highlights the continued need to effectively diagnose, treat and cure those afflicted with the disease.
There are ways for you to get involved. Be aware of the symptoms of TB (a cough that lasts for more than two to three weeks, weight loss, fever, night sweats) and encourage anyone who experiences them to get a TB test. Invite people from your community to a meeting to discuss what they can do to Stop TB. Share success stories on fighting TB at personal, community, or institutional levels. n
