Looking at the calendar, you can understand that every day there is some kind of holiday. Or is it a certain date, designed to draw public attention to a particular problem. Right now I want to talk about when World Tuberculosis Day and why this day is very important for every person.
A bit of history
The World Health Organization has long drawn attention to this problem. After all, tuberculosis is a disease that can affect everyone. That is why WHO, together with an international organization, and more precisely, the Union for the Control of Pulmonary Diseases, on March 24, 1982 began to celebrate World Tuberculosis Day. Why exactly this date? This is a logical question. Everything is simple here. It was this number, however, a century earlier, in 1882, Koch's wand was discovered - the only causative agent of tuberculosis.
In 1993, the world community recognized this problem as a common disaster. And in 1998, World Tuberculosis Day received such important and anticipated support from the United Nations.
A few words about tuberculosis
I would like to tell a little about the disease itself. After all, you need to understand what is at stake when it comes to tuberculosis. This is an infectious disease. The great danger is that this disease is transmitted by airborne droplets. You can share infectious microbacteria by coughing, sneezing, and even during a conversation when particles of the patient's saliva fall on the interlocutor. In addition, not every person knows that he is infected. And without appropriate treatment, the carrier of tuberculosis infects this disease with an average of 15 people per year. At the same time, poor nutrition, bad habits (alcoholism, smoking, drug addiction), various stressful and depressive states, as well as chronic diseases (for example, AIDS or diabetes) help the disease to develop.
Why does the public need this?
World Tuberculosis Day is March 24th, everyone should remember this. After all, this problem can affect a person anywhere and at any, even the most inappropriate time. And this is independent of social status or material well-being. At least once a year, on this day, the public needs to be reminded of this disease, its transmission methods, and also what must be done to protect itself and all members of its family from infection. For this, various events can be held: seminars, lectures, round tables, and trainings. It is also worth mentioning that it is necessary to inform children about this problem. It is necessary to organize all kinds of meetings with doctors in schools and other educational institutions. Stands, newspapers, wall newspapers, brochures also work well and deliver the necessary information about this problem to the kids.
What to do?
What can I talk about on the day of tuberculosis control? So, you need to inform people not only about how you can get infected, but also what to do if the infection has already occurred.
- Vaccination. People should understand that you can protect yourself if you get vaccinated in a timely manner. So, back in 1919, the microbiologist Calmette, as well as his close friend, the veterinarian Gehren, created a strain of microbe that is suitable for anti-TB vaccination of people. The first baby was vaccinated with BCG in 1921.
- Adequate treatment. A person should know that it is important not only to learn about the disease, but also to receive adequate treatment. So, it is worth mentioning that in 1943, biochemists discovered “Streptomycin” - a drug (antibiotic) that killed tuberculosis bacteria.
Problem Solving Strategy
World Tuberculosis Day should also inform the public that in 1993 the disease was recognized as a national problem. A little later, in order to avoid the widespread spread of this disease, a special strategy was developed, which is called DOTS. Its purpose is the timely identification of problems and the appointment of treatment. The essence of getting rid of the disease is that a person will be assigned short courses of chemotherapy. Moreover, constant monitoring by specialists is very important.
Some figures and statistics
Having figured out when the day of the fight against tuberculosis (March 24), it is also worth providing certain figures that should alert each person.
- In 2013, the number of patients with tuberculosis was 9 million. In the same year, one and a half million died (a fifth of them were HIV / AIDS patients).
- This disease is common in all countries of the world. However, most of the cases — 56% of patients — were found in countries in Asia and Oceania. A lot of patients also live in India, China and Africa.
- According to statistics, 60% of patients are men.
- Over the past 25 years, the incidence of this disease has decreased by 41%.
How to get public attention
How to spend International Tuberculosis Day? So, for this you can use all kinds of methods of informing the public. What could it be?
- Information events. In this case, doctors, scientists who are obliged to talk about the problem itself, the ways of its occurrence, as well as methods of dealing with it should communicate with people. In this case, conversations and lectures work best. It is advisable to organize meetings so that event visitors can ask questions.
- Placement of thematic materials. The public needs to be informed through the press, the Internet, radio and television. Brochures, wall newspapers and posters that report the disease are also actively communicating to people.
- Access day, open door. This applies to medical facilities. So, on the day of tuberculosis control, you can organize mobile fluorographs, where people can take pictures for free and quickly. Most often they are placed in the city center, where everyone can be checked for the presence of the disease. Immediately there must be present and specialists who can inform both healthy and sick patients.
- Training. You can conduct various trainings and seminars where people will be taught how to avoid infection and what to do if the first symptoms appear.
- Conferences, seminars. It is possible to gather workers from various fields who will discuss the problem itself and ways to get rid of it at a "high level".
- Press conferences. The public must inform about how widespread the disease is at a given time, whether the percentage of cases is increasing or decreasing, or whether new methods of dealing with the problem are emerging. It is better if this information will be conveyed by scientists, rather than politicians.
Well, of course, in any city there should be an organization to combat tuberculosis. After all, every person should remember and know where he can turn for help if he is diagnosed with tuberculosis.