Time to stop TB

On World TB Day, March 24, PATH joins global health leaders and partners around the world in encouraging full funding and implementation of the Global Plan to Stop TB 2011–2015, a roadmap for expanding prevention and treatment of tuberculosis (TB).

Tuberculosis is a curable respiratory disease that infects one-third of the world’s population and kills nearly 2 million people a year. Treating and curing people with TB prevents the spread of the disease, strengthens health systems, and improves quality of life for millions.

With funding from the United States Agency for International Development, PATH is working with countries around the world to implement high-quality tuberculosis control programs. We use the information we’ve gained in our work to inform global policy and enhance global partnerships in TB control.

We are working with partners and coalitions to bring internationally recommended treatment strategies more effectively to more people. We’re reaching out to patients, health care providers, and the public with accurate information about TB, and we’re connecting health systems with the resources they need for efficient diagnosis and care.

In places where high rates of HIV pose an added challenge to controlling TB, we are scaling up efforts to integrate TB and HIV services, ensuring that millions of people can be treated for both infections.

This year, our programs in Vietnam, Kenya, and Tanzania are participating in World TB Day activities. In Vietnam, PATH staff members are appearing in media reports about tuberculosis and its control, including discussions televised nationally. In Kenya, we are supporting the presidential escort police band and 40 members of Kenya’s uniformed services to attend the country’s World TB Day commemoration. Our staff in Tanzania will take part in a variety of activities designed to raise social awareness of TB, including community theater performances.

• Our work in tuberculosis.
• Slideshow on our work in TB control in Ukraine.
• Slideshow on our TB Photovoice Project in Tanzania.
• World TB Day website.
• More about the global strategy to control TB from the Stop TB Partnership.

Posted March 22, 2011.