World TB Day – March 24, 2009
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Although a cure for tuberculosis (TB) has existed for more than half a century, TB is one of three leading causes of deaths worldwide due to infectious diseases. TB kills about 1.6 million people each year, while HIV/AIDS claims more than 2 million lives each year, and malaria kills about 1 million people.
World TB Day, March 24, celebrates the lives of TB patients and the accomplishments of health care workers around the world. The theme of this year's World TB Day is “I am stopping TB,” a tribute to people everywhere who are doing their part to stop TB.
Today, we remember and honor the lives of people affected by TB: women, men, and children who have taken TB treatment; nurses; doctors; researchers; community workers – anyone who has contributed toward the global fight against TB, and we recommit to working with countries and the international community to successfully implement The Global Plan to Stop TB 2006-2015. The lives of millions of people across the globe depend on true international cooperation to solve the TB problem once and for all. Read USAID's Expanded Response to Tuberculosis [PDF, 135KB].
TB Success Stories
Upcoming TB Events and Training
Related Links
- Resources for World TB Day 2009
Download the World TB Day 2009 slogan, the World TB Day 2009 main document in six official U.N. languages, and World TB Day 2009 posters. You also can upload photos, posters, stories, and Web materials you have prepared for World TB Day on the World TB Day blog, www.worldtbday.org.
- New Laboratory Diagnostic Tools for Tuberculosis Control - January 2009
A new document released by the Retooling Task Force summarizes the new diagnostic tools that are available or will soon be available for country-level use. This will be a useful document for all TB programs as they consider which new tools may be appropriate for their epidemiological and health system realities.
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A woman sits on a cot in a TB clinic in Cambodia.
Source:
Chris Thomas/USAID
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Updated USAID TB Country Profiles
USAID has programs to combat TB in more than 40 countries around the world. Learn more about USAID's work in these nations.
- USAID's Fast Facts About Tuberculosis [PDF, 53KB]
Read up on basic facts about TB for a quick primer on the effect of the disease around the globe and the measures USAID is taking to fight it.
- New Grants for Tuberculosis Support Development of New Drugs, Diagnostics, and Approaches - 10/14/08
USAID has awarded new grants to The Global Alliance for TB Drug Development and the International Union Against TB and Lung Disease, which will support late-stage clinical trials for new drugs, diagnostics, and approaches to improve detection and management of TB, TB-HIV/AIDS, and drug-resistant TB.
- USAID’s TB CAP to Work with Central Asian Governments to Manage MDR-TB Cases
Learn about an initiative USAID launched to combat the increasing prevalence of MDR-TB in the five former Soviet republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
- Laboratory Services in Developing Countries
Read about how USAID is addressing the critical need for improved diagnostics, diagnostic tools, better approaches, and the need to expand and further develop quality-assured laboratory services in developing countries.
- Anti-Tuberculosis Drug Resistance in the World [PDF, 2.5MB]
This report, produced by WHO, presents the findings from the largest survey to date on the scale of drug resistance in TB.
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