World Tuberculosis Day
By Dr Arvind Kumar
World Tuberculosis Day (also called World TB Day) is commenced on 24 March every year. This day is structured to build community awareness about tuberculosis. It was on 24 March 1882 when German scientist Robert Koch, a pioneer in Microbiology, identified Mycobacterium Tuberculosis as the causative agent of this dreaded disease. Koch estimated that tuberculosis killed one-seventh of prevailing world population. He received a Nobel Prize in 1905. The World Tuberculosis Day was announced on24 March 1982, on the 100th centenary of Dr Koch’s appearance, by the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (IUATLD) and IUATLD was joined with World Health Organization in 1996. IUATLD & WHO both are prepare an extensive assortment of other concerned organizations to raise the crash of World Tuberculosis Day.
The World TB Day 2011 marks the second year of a campaign, On the move against tuberculosis whose goal is to inspire innovation in TB research and care. The campaign is inspired by the ambitious new objectives and targets of the Global Plan to Stop TB 2011-2015: Transforming the Fight-Towards Elimination of Tuberculosis, which was launched by the Stop TB Partnership in October 2010. The facts about TB are still startling:
Ø One in every three people around the world is infected with Mycobacterium Tuberculosis.
Ø 5-10 percent of those infected develop the disease, while the rest fall in the latent infection group.
Ø Those presenting with the disease infect 10-15 other people on an average in a year.
Ø Once the disease is active, chances of survival are as low as 50 percent for an immune-compromised patient.
Ø India has the largest pool of people infected with TB, 20 lakh new cases are reported a year, 20 percent of the global total.
Ø Every minute, more than 1 person dies due to TB in India.
