March 24, 2008 - World TB Day

I Am Stopping TB is more than a slogan. It is the start of a two-year campaign that belongs to people everywhere who are doing their part to Stop TB. It offers a message of empowerment, conveying the sense that all people can do their part to stop TB.

This year's World TB Day is about celebrating the lives and stories of people affected by TB: women, men and children who have taken TB treatment; nurses; doctors; researchers; community workers - anyone who has contributed towards the global fight against TB.

The World TB Day on March 24 is designed by the TB Partnership and the World Health Organization to build public awareness that tuberculosis today remains an epidemic in much of the world, causing the deaths of several million people each year. 24 March commemorates the day in 1882 when Dr Robert Koch astounded the scientific community by announcing that he had discovered the cause of tuberculosis, the TB bacillus. At the time of Koch's announcement in Berlin, TB was raging through Europe and the Americas, causing the death of one out of every seven people. Koch's discovery opened the way toward diagnosing and curing tuberculosis.

The Stop TB Partnership is a proactive global force in TB control. Established in 2000, the Stop TB Partnership is a network of over 500 organizations working together to realize a common vision of a world free of TB. Housed by the World Health Organization, the Stop TB Partnership consists of a Secretariat and seven working groups coordinated by a 32-member board. American Air & Water joined the Stop TB Partnership in 2007.