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World TB Day – 24 March 2023

World TB Day 2023, with the theme ‘Yes! We can end TB!’, aims to inspire hope and encourage high-level leadership, increased investments, faster uptake of new WHO recommendations, adoption of innovations, accelerated action, and multisectoral collaboration to combat the TB epidemic. This year is critical, with opportunities to raise visibility and political commitment at the 2023 UN High-Level Meeting on TB.

The spotlight of World TB Day will be on urging countries to ramp up progress in the lead-up to the 2023 UN High-Level Meeting on TB. WHO will also issue a call to action with partners urging Member States to accelerate the rollout of the new WHO-recommended shorter all-oral treatment regimens for drug-resistant TB.

World TB Day is observed annually on March 24 to raise awareness about TB and efforts to end the global epidemic, marking the day in 1882 when the bacterium causing TB was discovered.

 

Source: Text: https://www.who.int/campaigns/world-tb-day/2023        Image: YouTube

World Suicide Prevention Day – 10 September

History of World Suicide Prevention Day
It’s a tragic situation, with the death toll coming in at 42,773 people committing suicide each year in the United States alone, and for each one of those 25 people made the attempt. Over the world it’s even greater, an estimated 800,000 people commit suicide each year throughout the world, which is one every 40 seconds. What’s incredible is that just like the US statistic, it’s estimated that 25 times that attempt it, 4 million people over the world every year. There’s something of a ripple down effect that happens as well, those bereaved by the loss of a loved one to suicide are themselves more likely to commit suicide.

Thankfully there are organizations like the World Health Organization who fight to combat this epidemic. With the philosophy of ‘Connect, Communicate, Care’ they work to create a world in which suicide rates are reduced or even eliminated.

How to celebrate World Suicide Prevention Day
Celebrating World Suicide Prevention Day involves working to help fight suicide. One of the most effective techniques for this is following the ideals listed above. Connect with those who you discover may be in some form of emotional distress or considering suicide. Let them know they aren’t alone, and feel free to share bits of yourself in return, true connection requires a sharing, and those who are considering suicide are often adept at detecting false ones.

You also have to open the venues of Communication, to be able to truly let others feel like you’re a safe place they can come to and be taken seriously without judgement. Too often are those suffering from real debilitating depression and suicidal ideation met with comments like “You’re just making it up” or “You’re being melodramatic”, when in fact their struggles are very real. World Suicide Prevention Day encourages you to truly care about those around you, and to work to help end the epidemic before it claims someone you love.

Source: Text: DAYSoftheYEAR.com Image: inspiremalibu.com

 

World Diabetes Day – 14 November

World Diabetes Day is the world’s largest diabetes awareness campaign reaching a global audience of over 1 billion people in more than 160 countries. The campaign draws attention to issues of paramount importance to the diabetes world and keeps diabetes firmly in the public and political spotlight.

World Diabetes Day was created in 1991 by IDF and the World Health Organization in response to growing concerns about the escalating health threat posed by diabetes. World Diabetes Day became an official United Nations Day in 2006 with the passage of United Nation Resolution 61/225.

1 in 10 women are living with diabetes. Many do not have access to education, treatment and care.
1 in 7 births is affected by gestational diabetes.

 The World Diabetes Day campaign aims to:
Be the platform to promote IDF advocacy efforts throughout the year.
Be the global driver to promote the importance of taking coordinated and concerted actions to confront diabetes as a critical global health issue.

The campaign is represented by a blue circle logo that was adopted in 2007 after the passage of the UN Resolution on diabetes. The blue circle is the global symbol for diabetes awareness. It signifies the unity of the global diabetes community in response to the diabetes epidemic.

The International Diabetes Federation (IDF) is an umbrella organization of over 230 national diabetes associations in 170 countries and territories. It represents the interests of the growing number of people with diabetes and those at risk. The Federation has been leading the global diabetes community since 1950.

Source Text & Image: Int. Diabetes Fed.@IntDiabetesFed   2nd Image: VectorStock

 

 

World TB Day – 24 March

wtbd_news_sectionThe theme of this year’s World TB Day is: « Unite to End TB »

World TB Day, falling on March 24th each year, is designed to build public awareness that tuberculosis today remains an epidemic in much of the world, causing the deaths of nearly one-and-a-half 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. 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 towards diagnosing and curing TB.

Source: Text & Image: Website Stop TB Partnership

Background
Tuberculosis, or TB, is an infectious bacterial disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which most commonly affects the lungs. It is transmitted from person to person via droplets from the throat and lungs of people with the disease. WHO estimates that the largest number of new TB cases in 2005 occurred in south-east Asia, which accounted for 34 percent of incident cases globally. However, the estimated incidence rate in sub-Saharan Africa is nearly twice that of south-east Asia.

Source: Text: timeanddate.com

World Cancer Day and PI – 4 February

World Cancer Day image_O12v2_93191919

On February 4th, World Day focuses on two health problems: Cancer and PI

World Cancer Day is the one singular initiative under which the entire world can unite together in the fight against the global cancer epidemic. It takes place every year on 4 February. World Cancer Day aims to save millions of preventable deaths each year by raising awareness and education about cancer, and pressing governments and individuals across the world to take action against the disease.

UICC (Union for International Cancer Control) continues to expand on the success and impact of the day and is committed to ensuring that year-on-year the event is seen and heard by more people around the world. We do this through working directly with our members to develop a campaign that serves their differing organisational priorities; this is achieved through a two-pronged strategic approach:

UICC provides support through the development of tools and guidance to encourage its member organisations to run local cancer awareness campaigns that are aligned and adapted to the global World Cancer Day message. On an above-country level, we work to secure and support digital, traditional and social media opportunities to raise public awareness of the day. Through the continued support of our membership and key partners, World Cancer Day is beginning to firmly cement itself in calendars across the world.
To learn more about World Cancer Day, please visit the World Cancer Day website.

Source: Text & Image: UICC

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Primary immunodeficiency diseases (PI) are a group of more than 250 rare, chronic disorders in which part of the body’s immune system is missing or functions improperly. While not contagious, these diseases are caused by hereditary or genetic defects, and, although some disorders present at birth or in early childhood, the disorders can affect anyone, regardless of age or gender. Some affect a single part of the immune system; others may affect one or more components of the system.

And while the diseases may differ, they all share one common feature: each results from a defect in one of the functions of the body’s normal immune system. Because one of the most important functions of the normal immune system is to protect us against infection, patients with PI commonly have an increased susceptibility to infection.

The infections may be in the skin, the sinuses, the throat, the ears, the lungs, the brain or spinal cord, or in the urinary or intestinal tracts, and the increased vulnerability to infection may include repeated infections, infections that won’t clear up or unusually severe infections. People with PI live their entire lives more susceptible to infections–enduring recurrent health problems and often developing serious and debilitating illnesses. Fortunately, with proper medical care, many patients live full and independent lives.

Many physicians are taught, when you hear hoofbeats, think horses, not zebras, and focus on the likeliest possibilities to make a diagnosis. However, physicians need to look for the unusual to detect patients with PI.

Source: Text & Image: IDF website

Today, we think of all those who are struggling with cancer, their loved ones, and the medical personnel for whom this multi-faceted disease is a constant challenge.

We remember as well those for whom PI is a very personal condition.