World TB Day - March 24, 2011

World TB Day is March 24. This annual event commemorates the date in 1882 when Dr. Robert Koch announced his discovery of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacteria that causes tuberculosis (TB). World Tuberculosis Day provides an opportunity to call attention to the devastation the disease causes and to mobilize action to combat it.

Between 1990 and 2009, deaths from TB declined 35 percent and prevalence decreased 14 percent. This is in large part due to global effort, large scale implementation of the DOTS strategy and involvement/engagement of public, private and community sectors.

TB has always been the signature disease of the urban poor. In a world that is urbanizing at a rate of 200,000 (people) every day, we must fight TB now before it becomes an unparalleled global killer. The frightening growth of drug-resistant strains of TB—some of which cannot be treated—make the case for combating the disease even more compelling.

Through President Obama's Global Health Initiative (GHI), the United States is making major investments to prevent and control TB where the burden of the disease is highest.

U.S. Government TB Strategy
In 2008, U.S. Congress passed the Tom Lantos and Henry J. Hyde United States Global Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Reauthorization Act, supporting an increase in TB funding over a five-year period. The Act requests the development of a U.S. Government (USG) global TB strategy. In May 2009, President Obama announced the Global Health Initiative (GHI), which adopts an integrated approach to fighting diseases, improving health, and strengthening health systems. The TB strategy describes how the USG will contribute to the goals to control TB, which are included in the Lantos-Hyde Reauthorization Act, as part of the broader GHI. The USG TB strategy was developed in consultation with all relevant USG partners including USAID, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, U.S. Department of Defense, and the Office of the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator.