WORLD TUBERCULOSIS DAY
The world Health Organization(WHO) choose March 24 of every year as World Tuberculosis Day(TB) to commemorate the day Dr.Robert Koch in 1882 discovered TB Bacillus, the bacterium responsible for the disease, which opened the way towards diagnosing and curing the disease. World Health Organization created World Tuberculosis Day to spread knowledge and awareness about the devastating health, social and economic consequences of tuberculosis,an infectious disease that kills millions every year, and to step up efforts to end the global tuberculosis epidemic.
Tuberculosis is easily curable, but it can be dormant and undetected for years, so it’s important to spread awareness. Tuberculosis(TB) is caused by a type of bacterium called Mycobacterium Tuberculosis. It spread when a person with active tuberculosis disease in their lungs, coughs or sneeze and someone else inhales the expelled droplets, which contain tuberculosis bacteria.
Tuberculosis remains one of the world’s deadliest infectious killers. Each day, over 4100 people lose their lives to tuberculosis and close to 28,000 people fall ill with this disease. Global efforts to combat tuberculosis(TB) have saved an estimated 66 million lives since the year 2000. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has reversed years of progress made in the fight to end tuberculosis. For the first time in over a decade, Tuberculosis deaths increased in 2020.
Tuberculosis is observed every year to raise awareness regarding the fatal disease. There are three(3) stages of Tuberculosis(TB); Exposure, Latent, and Active disease. A Tuberculosis skin test or Tuberculosis blood test can be reduced by using a few simple precautions:
- Good Ventilation: as Tuberculosis can remain suspended in the air for several hours with no ventilation.
- Natural Lights: UV lights kills Tuberculosis bacteria.
- Good Hygiene: covering the mouth end nose when coughing or sneezing reduces the spread of Tuberculosis bacteria.
The theme for World Tuberculosis(TB) Day 2022 is Invest To End Tuberculosis. Save Lives. It conveys the urgent need to invest resources to ramp up the fight against Tuberculosis and achieve the commitments to end Tuberculosis made by global leaders. This is especially in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic that has put End Tuberculosis progress at risk, and to ensure equitable access to prevention and care in line with WHO’s drive towards achieving universal health coverage. More investments will save million more lives, accelerating the end of the Tuberculosis(TB) epidemic.
The WHO End Tuberculosis (TB) strategy aims to end the global Tuberculosis(TB) epidemic by 2035,reducing global Tuberculosis(TB) incidence and mortality rates by 90% and 95% respectively in 2035 when compared to 2015. Ending Tuberculosis(TB) is not just a public health problem, but a development challenge and opportunity. WHO’s post-2015 End Tuberculosis strategy,adopted by the World Health Assembly in 2014 aims to end the global Tuberculosis(TB) epidemic as part of the newly adopted sustainable development goals.