WORLD TB DAY
Every year March 24th is observed as World TB day. This day commemorates the day in 1882, when Dr. Robert Koch announced his discovery of the TB organism. The first anti TB drug Streptomycin was discovered in 1944 followed by other drugs which made TB a potentially a curable disease and it was believed that this scrouge would be eliminated from the globe. However TB continues to kill 1.7 million people per year globally. In India around 4, 00,000 people die per year (2 deaths in 3 min). Patients who harbor the TB germ in phlegm (Sputum positive patients) spread the disease to others. Anti TB therapy can not only eliminate the germ from the phlegm but also ensure definite cure. In spite of good anti TB medicines made available throughout that country at no cost through the Revised National TB Control Program (RNTCP), a good number of patients fail to complete the full treatment of 6 months. The above scenario has been complicated by HIV/AIDS which increases the risk of TB by 5 times and has lead to resurgence of TB even in advance countries. Most TB patients are in the economically productive age group thereby significantly affecting the Socio-economic status of the country. The increasing incidence of Multi drug resistant Tuberculosis (TB germ not being killed by the usual anti TB drugs) is an ominous sign. The World TB day is a valuable opportunity to educate the public about the devastation TB can spread and how it can be stopped by ensuring that every TB patient completes full course of medicines.
