World Tuberculosis Day

Every year World Tuberculosis Day is observed to make people aware about the epidemic - Tuberculosis as it is considered still in some parts of the world. Tuberculosis causes nearly 1.6 million deaths every year around the planet. World Tuberculosis Day has been celebrated on March 24 each year. In 1882 Dr Robert Koch thunderstruck the scientific community by announcing that he had discovered the cause of tuberculosis, the TB bacillus on March 24.

At the time of Koch's announcement TB was raging through Europe and the Americas and one out of every seven people was costing his life to the dreaded disease.

Koch's discovery opened the way toward diagnosing and curing tuberculosis and was awarded Nobel Prize for his discovery.

In 1982, on the one-hundredth anniversary of Dr Koch's presentation, the International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (IUATLD) proposed that March 24 be proclaimed as an official World TB Day.

In an effort to curb Tuberculosis, South Africans are given financial help for six months of time necessary for treatment.

World TB Day is about commemorating the lives and stories of people that are affected by TB and has taken a treatment for it; nurses; doctors; researchers; community workers who has put in global fight against TB.

The government organizes Health education campaigns to inform on the importance of early diagnosis and Regular treatment for the patients. A screening programme to early detect the disease is also organized. Various other events like seminar and exhibition on tuberculosis are held with an aim to impart knowledge on all aspects of TB.

What is Tuberculosis (TB)?

Tuberculosis (TB) is a bacterial disease that is infectious in nature. The causual bacterium is named Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The first prey to TB is an individual’s lungs but it can involve almost any organ of the body.

A person can become infected with tuberculosis bacteria when he or she inhales the bacteria present in the air when somebody already infected with tuberculosis coughs, sneezes, shouts, or spits. When the inhaled tuberculosis bacteria enter the lungs, they can multiply and cause a local lung infection (pneumonia).

The local lymph nodes of the lungs may also get infected and become enlarged. Tuberculosis can be treated successfully today with antibiotics.

You can prevent yourself from disease and keep yourself healthy by eating loads of fruits and vegetables, exercising daily, stopping the consumption of alcohol and smoking.

You can help to prevent the spread of TB by covering your mouth if you are coughing and sneezing, keeping windows in houses, taxis, buses and other places open for movement of fresh air, not spitting on the ground and not stopping your TB treatment and medication even if you are sense better.