The Citizens Centre for Integrated Development and Social Rights (CCIDESOR) has called on increased effort to end tuberculosis.
CCIDESOR calls on governments, affected communities,
civil society organizations, health-care providers, and national/international
partners to unite forces under the banner “Find. Treat. All. #EndTB” to ensure
no one is left behind.
Each year, there is
commemoration of World Tuberculosis (TB) Day on March 24 to raise public
awareness about the devastating health, social and economic consequences of TB,
and to step up efforts to end the global TB epidemic. The date marks the day in
1882 when Dr Robert Koch announced that he had discovered the bacterium that
causes TB, which opened the way towards diagnosing and curing this disease.
TB remains the world’s deadliest infectious killer. Each day, over 4000 people
lose their lives to TB and close to 30,000 people fall ill with this
preventable and curable disease. Global efforts to combat TB have saved an
estimated 58 million lives since the year 2000. To accelerate the TB response
in countries to reach targets – Heads of State came together and made strong
commitments to end TB at the first-ever UN High Level Meeting in September
2018. The theme of World TB Day 2020 – ‘It’s time’ – puts the accent on the
urgency to act on the commitments made by global leaders to: scale up access to
prevention and treatment; build accountability; ensure sufficient and
sustainable financing including for research; promote an end to stigma and
discrimination, and promote an equitable, rights-based and people-centered TB
response.
