Today is World TB Day
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- Published on Saturday, 24 March 2012 06:43
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World TB Day raises awareness about the global epidemic of tuberculosis (TB) and efforts to eliminate the disease. One-third of the world's population is currently infected with TB. The Stop TB Partnership, a network of organizations and countries fighting TB, organizes the Day to highlight the scope of the disease and how to prevent and cure it.
The annual event on 24 March marks the day in 1882 when Dr Robert Koch detected the cause of tuberculosis, the TB bacillus. This was a first step towards diagnosing and curing tuberculosis. WHO is working to cut TB prevalence rates and deaths by half by 2015.
Various World Tuberculosis Day events and activities are organized by various organizations involved in the Stop TB Partnership. WHO is a United Nations’ (UN) health authority that works with this network to promote World Tuberculosis Day each year.
The theme of World Tuberculosis Day 2012 is "Stop TB in my lifetime". The theme encourage people all over the world, from the youngest to the oldest, to make an individual call for the elimination of TB, and say what changes they expect to take place in their lifetimes.
