Infection prevention
A message of hope: ‘Yes! We can end TB’
Each year, we commemorate World Tuberculosis Day on 24 March to raise public awareness about the devastating health, social and economic consequences of tuberculosis (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.
The Stop TB Partnership has announced this year’s World TB Day theme: “Yes! We Can End TB: Commit, Invest, Deliver”. With six years left to end TB, in line with global targets, the theme emphasises the importance of sustained commitment, financial investment, and the effective delivery of interventions critical to TB prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and care. Building on its massive uptake and success over the last two years, this year’s theme reinforces a powerful collective message of hope, urgency, and accountability. “Commit” reminds everyone of the Heads of
State and Government who, at the 2023 United Nations High-Level Meeting (HLM) pledged to end TB. However, commitments alone are insufficient unless backed by concrete actions, funding, national strategies, and policies. “Invest” points to the critical step of fully funding the TB response through more investments and funding via various channels. A diversified approach to increased investment and financing will
accelerate the drive towards ending TB by 2030. “Deliver” translates the commitments and investments into tangible results that directly benefit people affected by TB. These would entail scaling up evidence-based interventions, active case finding, early and accurate diagnosis, preventive treatment, and high-quality care for drug-resistant TB. Involvement of communities, civil society, and multisectoral collaboration is essential to delivery. “We are together in this effort to end TB, the oldest airborne pandemic that continues to threaten global health and kills more people than any other infectious disease. By committing to action, investing resources strategically, and delivering high-quality care and prevention, Yes! We can make history by ending TB, together,” said Dr. Lucica Ditiu, Executive Director, Stop TB Partnership. The theme for 2025 reflects the understanding that ending TB requires a united, concerted global effort with strategic collaborations above and
beyond what has been done previously. According to the World Health Organization, about a quarter of the global population is estimated to have been infected with TB bacteria. About 5–10% of people infected with TB will eventually get symptoms and develop TB disease. The disease, which is fully preventable and
treatable, kills on average at least 1.3 million people every year, more than any other infectious disease. While TB usually affects the lungs, it also affects the kidneys, brain, spine and skin. Over 80% of cases and deaths are in low- and middle-income countries, but TB occurs in every part of the world. To tackle the disease, targets were announced at the United Nations General Assembly’s High- Level Meeting on Tuberculosis. These included: reaching 90% of people with TB prevention and care services, using a WHO-recommended rapid test as the first method of diagnosing TB; providing social benefit packages to all people with TB; licensing at least one new TB vaccine; and closing funding gaps for TB implementation and research by 2027. 1,2 “For millennia, our ancestors have suffered and died with tuberculosis, without knowing what it was, what caused it, or how to stop it,” said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the Director-General of the World Health Organization. “Today, we have knowledge and tools they could only have dreamed of. The political declaration countries have approved, and the targets they have set, are a commitment to use those tools, and develop new ones, to write the final chapter in the story of TB.”
Progress on targets Taking stock of progress, WHO reported that while global efforts to combat TB have saved over 75 million lives since the year 2000, they fell short of reaching the targets, mainly due to severe disruptions to TB services caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing conflicts.
March 2025 I
www.clinicalservicesjournal.com 45
t
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64
