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World TB Day Theme for 2002: "Stop TB, fight poverty"

The proposed theme for World TB Day 2002 is "Stop TB, fight poverty". The theme suggests that tackling TB, one of several illnesses that affect the poor, is one way of achieving greater global prosperity.

Rationale for selecting this theme:

The Commission on Macroeconomics and Health (CMH) will release its report titled "Macroeconomics and Health: Investing in Health for Economic Development" on 20 December. It will show that the full economic cost of disease within poor communities has been under-estimated. In fact, the substantial non-treatment costs of these diseases are often greater, and considerably more far-reaching, than the direct costs of treatment to the health service (the cost of medicines, personnel and facilities used, for example). There is no doubt that a sick workforce contributes to an unhealthy economy. And consequently, poor laborers and farmers stay poor if they are sick.

In addition to the launch of the CMH report, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, the international commitment to combating the diseases of poverty, will become operational by the end of this year.
   
 

SOME FACTS AND FIGURES

* Improving health is a concrete measurable way of reducing poverty and inequity - both at country and global level. Investments in health are investments in human potential. Tackling the primary diseases of poverty is a way of putting back billions of dollars into the national economies of poorer countries.

* TB is estimated to take an annual economic toll equivalent to US$ 12 billion dollars from the incomes of poor communities. HIV sero-prevalence rates of 10-15% - which are no longer uncommon in certain parts of the world - can translate into a reduction in growth rate of GDP per capital of up to 1% per year. 

* Studies suggest that on average three to four months of work time are lost as a result of TB. This results in average lost potential earnings of 20 to 30% of annual household income. For the families of those that die from the disease, there is the further loss of about 15 years of income because of the premature death of the TB sufferer.

GLOBAL OBJECTIVES


* The UN Millennium Summit in September 2000 committed to halve the mortality from TB and malaria and reduce new HIV infections by 25% within ten years.

* The WHO World Health Assembly members adopted global TB control targets for the year 2005: to detect 70% of new infectious TB cases existing in the community and to successfully treat 85% of them. With new donor financing, high-level political support, problem solving, strategic planning, and new tools development, progress towards these targets should be possible.

* A cost-effective health intervention exists for TB control and treatment: DOTS. Increasing public awareness about proven, effective interventions like DOTS and providing greater access and benefit to treatment for those with TB, will help put billions back into the economy. Aggressive implementation and expansion of DOTS on a worldwide basis is vitally important if we are going to meet the 2005 targets.

"Stop TB, fight poverty": a yearlong campaign.

Unlike previous years, a sustained campaign emphasizing this year's theme is envisioned. Stop TB partners are encouraged to develop year-round activities and stress the targets for case detection and cures, as this indicates both that the global partnership has a plan and that massive expansion of DOTS is necessary to achieve the targets.

More on this year's theme

"Stop TB, fight poverty" is a call to the global community to expand DOTS treatment, increase access to treatment and to STOP TB. The Global Plan to Stop TB, launched October 2001 proposes the expansion of national access to DOTS, the internationally accepted strategy for TB control and treatment. The cornerstone of the Global Plan to Stop TB is DOTS. When applied properly, the strategy provides treatment success rates worldwide reaching 9 out of 10 people.

The aims of this year's theme:

1). To emphasize DOTS expansion. It is estimated that only 1 in 4 TB cases receives DOTS treatment. DOTS expansion is critical if we are to reach global TB targets for 2005 and if we are to attack poverty "head on".

2). To raise awareness among political leaders, decision-makers and opinion leaders around the world about the implications of TB, especially on the economy, and the fact that there is no excuse for inaction in the face of an available, cost-effective cure.

3). To mobilize TB sufferers to demand greater access to treatment, thereby enabling them to become productive members of their society.


Courtesy : Stop TB