World Tuberculosis Day - 2015

World Tuberculosis Day - 2015

World TB Day, falling on 24th March 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.

Background

On World TB Day, 24 March, WHO is calling for new commitments and new action in the global fight against tuberculosis – one of the world’s top infectious killers.

There has been tremendous progress in recent years, and the world is on track to meet the Millennium Development Goal of reversing the spread of TB by 2015. But this is not enough. In 2013, 9 million people fell ill with TB and 1.5 million died.

WHO strategy to end the global TB epidemic

Last May, at the World Health Assembly, governments agreed on ambitious new 20-year (2016-2035) strategy to end the global TB epidemic.

WHO’s End TB Strategy envisions a world free of TB with zero deaths, disease and suffering. It sets targets and outlines actions for governments and partners to provide patient-centred care, pursue policies and systems that enable prevention and care, and drive research and innovations needed to end the epidemic and eliminate TB.

On World TB Day 2015, WHO calls on governments, affected communities, civil society organizations, health-care providers, and international partners to join the drive to roll out this strategy and to reach, treat and cure all those who are ill today.

24 March 2015 - the day to change gear and speed up global efforts to end TB altogether.

World Meteorological Day

The United Nations' (UN) World Meteorological Day is annually held on or around March 23 to remember the World Meteorological Organization's establishment on that date in 1950. Many different activities and events are organized for this occasion.

What do people do?

World Meteorological Day often features various events such as conferences, symposia and exhibitions for meteorological professionals, community leaders and the general public. Some events aim to attract media attention to raise meteorology's profile.

Many prizes for meteorological research are presented or announced on or close to World Meteorological Day. These prizes include:

• The International Meteorological Organization Prize.
• Professor Dr. Vilho Väisälä Award.
• The Norbert Gerbier-Mumm International Award.

Many countries issue postage stamps or special postage stamp cancellation marks to celebrate World Meteorological Day. These stamps often reflect the event's theme or mark a country's meteorology achievements.

Background

The International Meteorological Organization was established at the first International Meteorological Congress in Vienna, Austria, in 1873. The organization aimed to establish meteorological station networks. These networks were linked by telegraph and improved weather forecasts. This contributed to shipping services' safety and efficiency.

The International Meteorological Organization became the World Meteorological Organization on March 23, 1950. It became the UN's specialized agency for meteorology, operational hydrology and related geophysical sciences in 1951.

The World Meteorological Organization plays a crucial role in contributing to people's safety and welfare. Its work is important in providing food security, water resources and transport. World Meteorological Day has been observed on March 23 each year since 1961.

Themes

Recent themes of World Meteorological Day have been:

• Weather, climate and the air we breathe (2009). 
• Observing our planet for a better future (2008).
• Polar meteorology: Understanding global impacts (2007).
• Preventing and mitigating natural disasters (2006).
• Weather, climate, water and sustainable development (2005).
• Weather, climate, water in the information age (2004).
• Our future climate (2003).

A new theme is allocated to each different year for World Meteorological Day.