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Tuberculosis. The World Health Organization states that TB is a top killer in the world ranking next to HIV/Aids; it places the heaviest burden on the world’s most poor and vulnerable; people, diagnosed with TB, lose on average 50% of their income due to TB.
World TB Day is held on March 24th of every year to raise awareness about tuberculosis and to unite worldwide TB-control efforts. According to WHO, TB remains an epidemic in much of the world, causing the deaths of nearly one-and-a-half million people each year, mostly in developing countries.
Today, 2 billion people – one fourth of the world’s population – are infected with TB worldwide, with more than 10 million becoming ill from the disease and at risk for transmitting TB to others.
TB is also an important public health issue in the United States; however, data suggest that current strategies will not be sufficient to reach the goal of U.S. TB elimination in this century. A total of 9,287 TB cases were reported in the United States in 2016 according to preliminary data from the CDC National TB Surveillance System. This represents a slight decrease of 259 cases from the 9,546 cases reported in 2015, and is the lowest number of TB cases on record in the United States.
TB spreads through the air from person to person and respects no borders. TB is preventable and curable.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention along domestic and international partners, including the National TB Controllers Association, Stop TB USA, and the global Stop TB Partnership are working together to eliminate this deadly disease.
The Global Plan to End TB is a 5-year investment plan that represents the roadmap to accelerating impact on the TB epidemic and reaching the targets of the WHO End TB Strategy. This plan, based on the End TB strategy, aims to end TB and “walks away” from the limited approach aimed to “controlling” the diseases only. Specifically it speaks about preventing TB, active case finding and contact tracing, focusing attention to key vulnerable and marginalized groups, developing and roll out of new tools, and implementing TB services packages that are comprehensive and work in different type of epidemic and socioeconomic environments.
Stop TB Partnership offers the following information about the Global Plan to End TB:
- What is the investment needed?
- US$ 65 billion globally
- Of this, most is for implementation in countries
- Of this, US$ 29.4 billion needed in Global Fund eligible countries.
- Of this, US$ 9 billion needed to fund R&D for new tools – including diagnosis, drugs, drug regimens and vaccines.
- What will the world achieve by investing in the Global Plan?
- 45 million people prevented from getting TB
- 29 million people treated
- 10 million lives saved
- US$ 1.2 trillion overall economic return on investment
- US$ 85 return on each dollar invested
Resources for Healthcare Providers
Stop TB Partnership – Factsheets & Information Brochures
TB Education and Training Networks
Tools for Health Care Providers
CDC Self-Study Modules on Tuberculosis
WHO – ENGAGE-TB Approach: Training Manual
WHO – ENGAGE-TB: Training of Community Health Works and Community Volunteers
Resources for the General Public
Fact Sheets, Guidelines, Brochures, Patient Education Series
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