24th March is World Tuberculosis (TB) Day, aiming to increase public awareness on the issue. Even today, Tuberculosis remains an epidemic in many parts of the world and more than 1.5 million people lose their lives from TB each year. On March 24, 1882, in Berlin, Dr. Robert Koch announced that he had discovered the cause of the disease, the Tuberculosis bacillus, thus opening the way towards diagnosing and curing Tuberculosis. The importance of this discovery was immense, considering that at the time one out of seven people died of TB in Europe and the Americas. Koch's discovery opened the way toward diagnosing and curing tuberculosis.

Tuberculosis, an airborne disease spread like the common cold, afflicts about 9 million people worldwide each year. It is normally treatable with antibiotics but drug-resistant strains have emerged in past years. USAID is helping expand cost-effective treatment of multi-drug resistant TB. The U.S. support to the Stop TB Partnership and the Global Fund is making a real difference in the lives of thousands of people with TB and drug-resistant TB who, until recently, had little hope of being cured.

USAID works with governments and partners worldwide to save lives by increasing and strengthening treatment and cure of TB, improving drug quality and availability, training all cadres of health workers, providing laboratory supplies and equipment, and engaging communities and the private sector in TB care.

The U.S. is the largest single-country donor to the Global Fund, contributing nearly $1.9 billion since its inception in 2002. USAID provides $5 million each year to the Global TB Drug Facility to help support grants for TB drugs to countries in need. USAID currently assist TB programs in 37 countries, and is the largest bilateral TB donor. Since 1998, it has provided approximately $432 million for global TB control activities.

Links

Stop TB Partnership
The Stop TB Partnership was established in 2000 to realize the goal of eliminating TB as a public health problem and, ultimately, to obtain a world free of TB. It comprises a network of international organizations, countries, donors from the public and private sectors, governmental and nongovernmental organizations and individuals that have expressed an interest in working together to achieve this goal. (description from stopTB website)

Stop TB Partnership - World Tuberculosis Day 2007
Previous years' sites

World Health Organization (WHO): Tuberculosis

Videos

Actions For Life

Archbishop Desmond Tutu on the Global Plan

A Long Way of Care: The Life of Dr. Annalena Tonelli

The Human Face of TB

Fight AIDS, FightTB, Fight Now

More Videos from Stop TB Partnership...

Documents [pdf]

Amsterdam Declaration from the Ministerial Conference on TB & Sustainable Development
24 March 2000, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
A call for accelerated action against tuberculosis. Click here for more information

Endorsed Washington Commitment
22-23 October 2001, Washington, DC, USA
The commitment to further operationalize the Amsterdam Declaration to Stop TB from the Partners' Forum. Click here for more information

Keeping the Pledge to Stop TB
24-26 March 2004, New Delhi, India
A commitment by Stop TB partners to intensify efforts and accelerate action to attain the global TB control targets for 2005. Click here for more information