World Tuberculosis Day 2017

1. March 24 commemorates the day in 1882 when Dr Robert Koch astounded the scientific community by announcing to a small group of scientists at the University of Berlin's Institute of Hygiene that he had discovered the cause of tuberculosis, the TB bacillus or Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
2. The theme of World TB Day 2017 is “Unite to End TB.” CDC and its domestic and international partners, including the  National TB Controllers Association, Stop TB USA, and the global Stop TB Partnership are working together to eliminate this deadly disease.
3. In 1982, on the one-hundredth anniversary of Robert Koch's presentation, the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (IUATLD) proposed that March 24 be proclaimed an official World TB Day. 
4. This was part of a year-long centennial effort by the IUATLD and the World Health Organization under the theme “Defeat TB: Now and Forever.” but World TB Day was not officially recognized as an annual occurrence by WHO's World Health Assembly and the United Nations until over a decade later.
5. In the fall of 1995, WHO and the Royal Netherlands Tuberculosis Foundation (KNCV) hosted the first World TB Day advocacy planning meeting in Den Haag, Netherlands; an event they would continue co-sponsor over the next few years.
6. In 1996, WHO, KNCV, the IUATLD and other concerned organizations joined to conduct a wide range of World TB Day activities.
7. For World TB Day 1997, WHO held a news conference in Berlin during which WHO Director-General Hiroshi Nakajima declared that “DOTS is the biggest health breakthrough of this decade, according to lives we will be able to save.” 
8. City pollution is one of the major causes of tuberculosis. 
9. Tuberculosis can spread by being in the infectious air as the disease is an infectious one whose bacteria travel through air droplets, by way of coughing or sneezing by an infected person. 
10. TB attacks the lungs but other organs such as the brain or the kidneys can fall prey to the disease too.
11. Mostly, TB is found in underdeveloped countries.
12. Most HIV deaths occur due to TB.

References:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Tuberculosis_Day

http://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/health/world-tuberculosis-day-2017-10-things-you-need-to-know-about-tb-4583374/

http://www.stoptb.org/events/world_tb_day/

https://www.cdc.gov/tb/worldtbday/

http://www.who.int/campaigns/tb-day/2017/en/

http://www.who.int/life-course/news/events/world-tuberculosis-day-2017/en/

http://www.who.int/campaigns/tb-day/2017/event/en/