THE Bacolod City Council has passed a resolution authored by Councilor Sonya M. Verdeflor, enjoining all Bacolodnons to support the observance and commemoration of the World Tuberculosis (TB) Day on March 24.

The purpose of which is to raise global awareness about the devastating health, social and economic consequences of TB and for public health institutions to step up their effort to end the global TB epidemic with this year's theme: “It's time.”

Every March 24, the world marks World TB Day. TB remains the world’s leading infectious killer, being responsible for the deaths of nearly 1.7 million people each year and representing the ninth leading cause of death globally. The day is an occasion to mobilize political and social commitment for further progress toward eliminating TB as a public health burden.

The World TB Day (WTBD) on March 24 will be a continuation of joint efforts to keep TB high in the global and national agenda. After the historic United Nations High-Level Meeting (UN HLM) on TB last September in New York, the WTBD 2019 theme will ensure that the world is reminded of the commitments made and the timely need for action in a scale-up research, funding, human rights and accountability.

“The theme ‘It’s time’ has a very strong meaning and is simple to translate into any language and it can easily be adapted to cover any aspect of our work that we would like to promote,” the Council said in its resolution. “It’s Time... to keep the promises made at the UN HLM on TB ...for a world without TB ...to treat 40 million people affected by TB by 2022 ...to know your TB status!” (CNC)