TB is a deadly disease, which infected 10 million people in 2020 alone. Even though it is detectable, preventable and curable, the dangerous combination of lengthy treatment methods, an ineffective vaccine and a chronic lack of financial and political will to tackle TB results in a devastating and unnecessary loss of life. Over the last twenty years, TB deaths have reduced overall, but the pandemic has seriously set back progress to end TB. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, many essential TB services have been disrupted and the number of people who died from TB rose in 2020 for the first time in a decade.
2022 is a crucial year for us to step up our campaigning to push for an end to TB. On Thursday 24 March, as the world commemorates World TB Day, we have an important opportunity to raise public awareness about the devastating consequences of TB, and the need to increase efforts to end the epidemic. This month, join us in helping to raise awareness of the impact of this often neglected disease. Raising the issue now will help us gain support for specific actions during 2022, such as advocating for investment in the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria.
Check out our action sheet for more information on TB and why we’re taking action this month, and for ideas and suggestions read our ‘how to’ guide.
Important campaign guides for this month’s action: An introduction to TB and An introduction to the Global Fund. Plain text versions are available by following the links.
To hear more about TB and why our advocacy is so important, catch up on the March conference call, where we heard from Dr Uvistra Naidoo, a paediatrician in Capetown, South Africa with a special interest in childhood tuberculosis (TB) and a survivor of Multi-Drug Resistant TB.
Image: Julius, Precious, Grace and Bentry: TB advocates from Lusaka, Zambia. Image: Arthur Davies Sikopo. Image from #TBhope, World TB Day 2021.