World TB Day 2007 highlights
WHO Stop TB Director, Dr. Mario Raviglione and FIND Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Giorgio Roscigno.
On the occasion of World TB Day, FIND Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Giorgio Roscigno, and Senior Policy and Implementation
Officer, Dr. Vinand Nantulya, attended the special events held on 22 March 2007, at the United Nations Headquarters in New
York. This year's theme was "TB Anywhere is TB Everywhere".
World TB Day is commemorated worldwide on 24 March to raise awareness about tuberculosis which, despite being curable, still kills
1.6 million people a year. The date also memorializes the discovery, by German bacteriologist Dr. Robert Koch, of tubercle bacillus,
the bacterium that causes TB.
Events in New York included the launch of the World Health Organization’s Global TB Control Report 2007, featuring new data on
the epidemic and information on progress made in TB control with respect to the targets defined in the Global Plan to STOP TB
(2006-2015). The report was launched by the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, Dr. Asha-Rose Mtengeti Migiro.
UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy to Stop TB, Dr. Jorge Sampaio, inaugurates "A World Free of TB" photo exhibit at
UN Headquarters, NY.
Drs. Roscigno and Nantulya attended a special viewing of a photo exhibit entitled "A World Free of TB" with photographs by world
renowned photographer, James Nachtwey, who also attended. The exhibition was inaugurated by UN Secretary-General’s Special
Envoy to Stop TB, Dr. Jorge Sampaio, and featured 33 photographs depicting the human cost of TB, not just for sufferers but also for
health workers and caregivers. The images included portraits of famous people throughout history who suffered or died from tuberculosis.
The exhibit, which emphasized the urgent need to address the disease, was also attended by WHO Stop TB Director, Dr. Mario Raviglione
and UN Messenger of Peace, Anna Cataldi who played a major role in conceiving and producing the photographic event.
Delegates attended the workshop "NGO Support to United Nations Campaigns: the Stop TB Example", which was organized by
the UN Department of Public Information. The four speakers, Dr. Jorge Sampaio, James Nachtwey, Anna Cataldi, and Dr. Mario
Raviglione were invited on behalf of the WHO Stop TB and the Stop TB Partnership to give presentations on the challenges NGOs
face in light of the TB epidemic.
A private lunch for the delegates was hosted at the Italian UN mission by
H.E. Mr. Marcello Spatafora, Permanent Representative of Italy.
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