World Tuberculosis Day is observed on March 24 every year in order to spread awareness about the health, social and economic consequences of the disease.
Latent Tuberculosis patients do not show any symptoms while one of the major symptoms that show in those suffering from active Tuberculosis includes cough that lasts over a period of three weeks. Other signs and symptoms of the disease include unintentional weight loss, pain in the chest, blood in cough, fever, unexplained fatigue etc. If an individual experiences these signs he or she should not ignore it and must consult a doctor immediately.
World Tuberculosis Day 2020: Date
The day is observed on March 24 because it is on this date Dr Robert Koch had announced the discovery of the bacterium that causes Tuberculosis in the year 1882. It is only after the discovery of this bacterium that efforts were put in the direction of diagnosing and curing it.
World Tuberculosis Day 2020: Theme
This year the theme of the day is “It’s Time”, as per the World Health Organisation this is to add weightage on the urgency to act on the commitments made by global leaders. These include scaling up access to prevention and treatment; building accountability; ensuring sufficient and sustainable financing including for research; promoting an end to stigma and discrimination, and promoting an equitable, rights-based and people-centered Tuberculosis response.
The World Health Organisation considers Tuberculosis as the world’s deadliest infectious killer. According to its data, every day more than 4,000 people lose their lives due to the disease. Around 30,000 people are infected by Tuberculosis each year and approximately 58 million people have been saved since 2000 after global efforts were made to combat the disease.
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