CDC Observes World TB Day 2014

March 19, 2014

Dear Colleagues,

Each year, World TB Day is recognized on March 24. This annual event commemorates the date in 1882 when Dr. Robert Koch announced his discovery of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacillus that causes tuberculosis (TB). World TB Day provides an opportunity to raise awareness about TB-related problems and solutions and to support worldwide TB-control efforts. This year’s U.S. theme is “Find TB. Treat TB. Working together to eliminate TB.” to encourage health officials in local and state TB programs to reach out to their communities to raise awareness about TB and to partner with others who are caring for those most at risk for TB. Everyone has a role in ensuring that one day TB will be eliminated.

One of the goals of this year’s World TB Day campaign is to highlight personal stories from TB patients and their families. Numerous stories have been collected and are available on the CDC TB website. They focus on the services and support that public health programs provide to successfully diagnose and treat people with TB disease and latent TB infection. We encourage you to read and share these stories with other colleagues, both in the United States and globally. Other CDC resources are also available in English and Spanish to provide up-to-date information on TB, promotion materials, and other tools you can use as part of your World TB Day events and activities.

Also, CDC will host a World TB Day Twitter Chat on March 24, 2014, from 11:00 am-12:00 pm EDT. Both of us will be participating (@CDCNPIN) and will be joined by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), on @USAIDGH, and CDC’s Center for Global Health on @CDCGlobal to raise awareness about TB in the United States and globally and to highlight the ongoing work by CDC and partners. We hope you will participate in this event by following #TBDayChat.

Let’s continue to help people with TB get diagnosed and treated, and to identify and implement innovative strategies to improve testing and treatment.

Thank you for all the work you do to help eliminate TB.

Sincerely,

/Jonathan Mermin/

Jonathan H. Mermin, M.D., M.P.H.
Director
National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
www.cdc.gov/nchhstp

/Philip LoBue/

Philip LoBue, MD, FACP, FCCP
Acting Director, Division of Tuberculosis Elimination
National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
www.cdc.gov/tb