World TB Day: March 24th

World Tuberculosis Day was on March 24^th. Now it didn’t get a lot of attention this year because we’re in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it still does deserve awareness as it is currently and has been a global epidemic for years. Tuberculosis (TB) is caused by the mycobacterium tuberculosis that mostly affects the lungs. TB is spread from person to person by respiratory droplets and it only takes a few droplets spread from an infected by a cough or a sneeze to become infected. Although TB can be prevented and treated, it is the “world’s biggest infectious killer and the leading cause of death among people living with HIV” according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Did you know that 1.5 million people died from TB in 2018? I didn’t know that until I was doing my research from this blog. It’s crazy how something so deadly is overlooked. I remember my first time ever hearing about TB was when I was getting screened for volunteering at the hospital. Now that I look at things, I only hear about to TB in a healthcare settings and we need to change that dynamic. People infected with TB have a 15% chance of becoming ill with the infection. People who are immunocompromised such as people with HIV, diabetics, and smokers are at a higher risk of becoming ill.

In September of 2018, the United Nations (UN) held it first high-level meeting on TB and I would say it was success because they were able to come up with four new global targets to combat TB globally. Their goal is to treat 40 million people for TB from 2018-2022. Within this same timeline, they want to reach at least 30 million with preventative treatment for TB. The UN plans to assemble at least a $13 billion yearly for universal access for Tb diagnosis, treatment and care by 2022. They also want to establish $2 billion annually for TB research.

I think these initiatives are great and I hope the UN is successful in achieving their goals. I also just want to continue to spread awareness about tuberculosis, because the coronavirus is not the only epidemic or pandemic we’re facing as we speak.