Under the slogan ‘Each patient counts’, WHO in the Eastern Mediterranean Region is calling this year for legislation on TB notification to be updated so that all cases of TB can be found and treated.

World TB Day 2014 also calls on countries to accelerate progress towards zero TB deaths, infections, suffering and stigma. One of the key messages of the day is that TB is curable, but more efforts are needed from all parties to find, treat and cure everyone who gets ill with the disease.

“Countries in the Region have built strong national TB programmes with sound strategic plans of action. The Stop TB strategy has been successfully implemented, and the Region has maintained a high treatment success rate among cases, at around 88% for the past 5 years.

In the past 10 years, countries have detected more than 4.2 million TB cases, and have successfully treated more than 3 million of these. Deaths from TB have fallen by 50% compared to 1997” says Dr Ala Alwan, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean, on the occasion of World TB Day.

Still more actions need to be discussed widely at country level to reach a national consensus that is reflected in updating public health law (TB notification on the spot is obligatory) and agree on the related mechanisms and tools for its implementation and to conduct awareness campaigns, national conferences, media interventions to gather support and understanding of the need.

Of the 9 million people a year who get sick with TB worldwide, a third of them are “missed” by public health systems. Many of these 3 million people live in the world’s poorest, most vulnerable communities.

In the Eastern Mediterranean Region, the situation is the same: the case detection rate is only 63% (Global TB report 2013). This means that out of the 670 000 new TB cases estimated to have occurred in 2012, around 250 000 cases were missed.

Almost two thirds of TB cases among women in the Region in 2012 were not detected. This means that the access of women to diagnosis is much less than that of men.

World TB Day, falling on 24 March each year, aims to build public awareness of the burden of tuberculosis, which today remains an epidemic in most parts of the world, resulting in the deaths of nearly 1.5 million people each year, mostly in developing countries.

It 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.

This requires countries to aggressively scale up TB programmes and ensure access and coverage for all, especially for the most vulnerable groups in the so-called TB ‘hotspots’: those areas most heavily affected by the disease.

The regional campaign on the occasion of World AIDS Day 2014 (1 December) calls for ensuring lifelong treatment success, measured by the suppression of the virus in the body.

With the success of treatment and suppression of the virus, people living with HIV can now lead long, healthy and productive lives.

Additionally, with the suppression of the virus the risk of transmission from those who are infected with HIV to others becomes very low. This is known as “treatment as prevention”.

Recent medical advancements in treating people living with HIV with antiretroviral therapy (ART) in the right combination of medicines mean the the virus can be controlled and reduced to undetectable levels in the body. Achieving an undetectable viral load keeps the immune system robust enough to fight opportunistic infections and cancers.

Furthermore, HIV treatment can be used as an additional measure to prevent the transmission of HIV from people living with HIV to uninfected partners. Similarly, by achieving undetectable viral load levels through treatment, pregnant women living with HIV can now have HIV-free babies.

Secondary to this preventive benefit to individuals, implementing ART programmes and achieving undetectable viral loads on a large scale has the benefit of reducing the likelihood of HIV transmission in general. This constitutes a major public health gain that can eventually result in curbing the HIV epidemic.

World AIDS Day is occurring for the third year within the framework of the regional initiative to End the HIV Treatment Crisis. This is a call for action to governments, civil society groups, people living with HIV and international partners to renew their commitment and re-double their efforts to make ART accessible to all those who need it.

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