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 It’s time for action!

01 March 2019 | World TB Day, which falls on 24 March 2019, follows a year that generated concerted high-level commitment for the fight against TB. Heads of State came together at the first-ever UN high-level meeting on TB (UNHLM on TB) in New York last September, and agreed to bold targets and urgent actions to end TB. This is the momentum behind this year’s World TB Day theme: ‘It’s time!’

The theme of World TB Day 2019 – ‘It’s time’ – puts the accent on the urgency to act on the commitments made by global leaders to:

• scale up access to prevention and treatment, closing gaps in care as part of WHO’s overall drive towards universal health coverage
• tackle the MDR-TB crisis
• promote an equitable, rights-based and people-centered TB response
• build accountability
• ensure sufficient and sustainable financing including for research,
• take a stand against stigma and discrimination, and
• advance research and innovation

Dr Tereza Kasaeva, Director of WHO’s Global TB Programme said, “It’s Time! WHO is urgently calling on governments, affected communities, civil society organizations, health-care providers, national/international partners and other sectors beyond health to become TB champions, to wipe out this top infectious killer and save millions of lives. The clock is ticking. We cannot lose another second. It’s time to ensure no one is left behind. It’s time to END TB!”

WHO has developed advocacy and communications materials to support awareness building and promotion in the lead up to and on World TB Day. Check out our material:

• Advocacy and communications toolkit: see here
• Animated End TB logo: GIF format
• Campaign website: The WHO Corporate Campaign website is now live, please access it here 
• Posters based on key messages, here
• Brochure on the UN High Level Meeting on TB, including outcomes here 
• Infographics for social media: see here
• Top 5 facts on TB: video   
• Instagram Survivor Stories: Here is an example from Viet Nam

World TB Day Trello Board: All these are available on the global World TB DayTrello Board. We invite you to also share your materials and experiences there. The board will be updated as we go and we will also use it to inform and coordinate about events on World TB Day worldwide. 

To contribute to the Trello board, please become a member by clicking this link.

Read more here