“Every Breath Counts, Stop TB now”, remembering this quote, World Tuberculosis Day is observed annually on March 24 to raise awareness among people about the mortifying health, financial and societal consequences of tuberculosis. This infectious disease affects the lungs and spreads when an infected person sneezes or coughs. Though it is preventable and curable. So, World TB Day is an opportunity to highlight the individuals who are impacted by the disease and to support immediate action to stop TB misery and deaths.
World Tuberculosis Day 2022: Theme
This year, the theme of World TB Day is ‘Invest to End TB. Save Lives’. It emphasises the critical need to invest resources to combat Tuberculosis and meet global leaders’ vows to end it. This is especially significant in light of the COVID-19 epidemic, which has jeopardised the TB progress, as well as to provide equal access to prevention and treatment in line with WHO’s mission towards Universal Health Coverage.
World Tuberculosis Day: History
The date commemorates the day on which Dr. Robert Koch announced the discovery of the bacterium that causes TB on March 24 1882, which opened the way towards diagnosing and curing this infectious disease. According to WHO, “TB remains one of the world’s deadliest infectious killers. Each day, nearly 4000 lose their lives to TB and close to 28,000 people fall ill with this preventable and curable disease. Global efforts to combat TB have saved an estimated 63 million lives since the year 2000.”
World Tuberculosis Day: Significance
Tuberculosis perhaps appears to be an old disease affecting approximately 2 billion people worldwide. In fact, according to WHO, 10.4 million individuals got tuberculosis, and 1.7 million people died from this infectious disease in 2016.
However, due to some misconceptions, it is not seen as a serious crisis. But raising the understanding of the disease can help those who are in high danger and seeking treatment. If the individuals who are at risk are vaccinated properly, the disease might be cured, and tuberculosis could be eliminated.
