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Comment: The world lights up for the campaign to end tuberculosis

Today is World Tuberculosis Day, commemorating the day in 1882 when Dr. Robert Koch discovered the cause of tuberculosis, a turning point in the fight against the disease that has ravaged humanity since antiquity.

Today is World Tuberculosis Day, commemorating the day in 1882 when Dr. Robert Koch discovered the cause of tuberculosis, a turning point in the fight against the disease that has ravaged humanity since antiquity.

TB occurs in every part of the world and is one of the top 10 causes of death. Common symptoms of active lung TB are cough with sputum and blood, chest pains, weakness, weight loss, fever and night sweats — and if not treated properly and quickly, death. It is not all that long ago that Canadian children were given X-rays in school for TB detection. Some might even recall friends or relatives who were infected with, or who died from, TB.

Every year, the international community puts the spotlight on TB and highlights World TB Day by lighting up landmarks in red. It is a globally recognized occasion for people to stand in solidarity with the millions of people who suffer from TB, and the millions who have lost their lives to it. This year, Victoria will light up for the first time. Today, look for red in these places:

• the fountain and ceremonial entrance to the legislature,

• the city hall clock tower clock faces, and

• the fascia of the Capital Regional District building.

As well, the City of Victoria has proclaimed today World TB Day.

In 2017 (most recent data) TB claimed 1.6 million lives. More than 4,000 people die every day from this disease, devastating communities around the world. More than 95 per cent of cases and deaths are in developing countries, with most new cases occurring in India, China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Pakistan, Nigeria, Bangladesh and South Africa.

However, Canada is not immune. In 2017, more than 1,700 people, including 300 in British Columbia, were diagnosed with TB.

Indigenous communities, those who are HIV-positive, intravenous drug users, homeless people and those with compromised immune systems are susceptible.

Canada’s Indigenous communities are particularly vulnerable. In fact, they are 300 times more likely to contract TB, and the staggeringly high rate of tuberculosis in Nunavut is 26 times the national average.

TB was highlighted recently in the news with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s apology for the federal government’s treatment of Inuit with tuberculosis in the mid-20th century. The effects of the C.D. Howe medical ship, which took Inuit patients south for TB treatment in the 1950s and ’60s, are still being felt. And the disease persists. The 2017 case of Nunavut teen Ileen Kooneeliusie raises questions about how a person living in a territory with a high incidence of TB today could not be diagnosed in time to save her life.

With great efforts, we’ve made progress, as TB can be prevented and is mostly curable; however there is now a “new era” of incurable TB: multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis. The bacteria that cause it can develop resistance to at least two of the main antimicrobial drugs used to treat and cure it, so resistant strains are spreading and becoming increasingly difficult to treat. Treatment options are limited, time-consuming and expensive, and recommended medicines are not always available. In some cases, even the more severe drug-resistant XDR-TB can develop — and that endangers us all with today’s global travel.

Ending the TB epidemic by 2030 is among the health targets of the Sustainable Development Goals, and World TB Day is a time to increase our efforts and push for greater investment toward fighting this pernicious disease. While we are making progress, a lot more must be done.

The Global Fund is the key partnership organization designed to accelerate the end of tuberculosis and has had an unparalleled track record of success. It treated five million people against tuberculosis in 2017 alone. It is financed by governments, civil society and the private sector. Canada has been supporting it since its inception in 2002 and is being urged to continue its exemplary leadership by committing to a bold pledge of $1 billion over the next three years.

The fund plays a vital role by ensuring that people receive life-saving drugs and access to diagnosis and are supported through community-driven care. In this way, Canadians can be proud knowing they are contributors in the fight to end TB and save lives.

What else can you do? Today, find the above-mentioned places downtown lit up in red. Take a photo and share it on social media, tagging your member of Parliament, urging them to support Canada’s Global Fund contribution for 2020-2022. Use the hashtags: #ItsTimeToEndTB, #WorldTBDay2019 and #voices4RESULTS.

Anita Mark of Saanichton has been a volunteer with RESULTS Canada for 25 years. RESULTS Canada is a global movement of passionate citizens, committed to raising their voices for a world without extreme poverty and disease.