World TB Day: Indeed, The Clock Is Ticking

From Joseph Senyo Kwashie –Executive Director At Community And Family Aid Foundation –Ghana ‘Globally, TB has been with us for quite long, causing the deaths of nearly one-and-a-half million people each year, mostly in developing countries, let stand up for change .the talk is enough and give TB the needed attention and in doing so our commitment to fight TB will blossom. The clock IS ticking, our actions are our defence, and it’s our defence that gives lives and hope to the fight against TB. The clock is ticking, ticking, let acts beyond words.

Our Message

We are committed to fighting TB and will continue to the last mile as a foundation leading change in the health sector . The theme of World TB Day 2021 - ‘The Clock is Ticking’ –conveys the sense that the world is running out of time to act on the commitments to end TB made by global leaders.

The date marks the day in 1882 when Dr Robert Koch announced that he had discovered the bacterium that causes TB, which opened the way towards diagnosing and curing this disease. At the time of Koch's announcement in Berlin, TB was raging through Europe and the Americas, causing the death of one out of every seven people. Koch's discovery opened the way towards diagnosing and curing TB.

World TB Day, 24 March, is the annual international day dedicated to raising awareness of tuberculosis, one of the world’s deadliest infectious diseases. National Stop TB Partnerships and national partnering platforms in every region of the world are leading a wide array of events and campaigns to mark the occasion, despite the enormous challenges presented by COVID-19.

The TB trend is nothing to write home about as 63,000,000 lives saved since 2000 by global efforts to end TB.

• 10,000,000 people fell ill with TB in 2019
• 1,400,000 people died of TB in 2019
• 465,000 people fell ill with drug-resistant TB in 2019

The theme of World TB Day 2021 - ‘The Clock is Ticking’ –conveys the sense that the world is running out of time to act on the commitments to end TB made by global leaders. This is especially critical in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic that has put End TB progress at risk, and to ensure equitable access to prevention and care in line with WHO’s drive towards achieving Universal Health Coverage.

TB remains one of the world’s deadliest infectious killers. Each day, nearly 4000 lose their lives to TB and close to 28,000 people fall ill with this preventable and curable disease. Global efforts to combat TB have saved an estimated 63 million lives since the year 2000.

The Clock Is Ticking and we as a foundation believe we can do more than this .We must not leave anything to chance rather redouble our efforts with practical means of overcoming this dreadful killer.

TB has been with us for quite long, causing the deaths of nearly one-and-a-half million people each year, mostly in developing countries, let stand up for change .The talk is enough and gives TB the needed attention and in doing so our commitment to fight TB will blossom. The clock IS ticking, our actions are our defence, and it’s our defence that gives lives and hope to the fight against TB. The clock is ticking, ticking, let acts beyond words.