Health News of Thursday, 19 March 2015

Source: GNA

WHO to mark World TB Day

The World Health Organisation (WHO) will mark this year’s World Tuberculosis Day on Tuesday, March 22, 2015; on the theme “Gear Up to End TB”.

The focus of this year's campaign is on the drive to roll-out the ambitious new 20 year (2016-2035) strategy to end the global TB epidemic.

A statement issued by the WHO and copied to the Ghana News Agency on Wednesday said as part of activities marking the Day, the WHO Global TB Programme would be holding a briefing on it on Thursday, March 19, in Geneva.

It indicated that speakers at the press conference would include Dr Eric P. Goosby, United Nations Special Envoy on Tuberculosis and Dr Mario Raviglione, Director, Global Tuberculosis Programme, World Health Organization.

It said, “the WHO is calling for new commitments and new action in the global fight against the disease that still kills an estimated 1.5 million people each year".