A lighted sign at Blue Mountain will be red this evening to mark World Tuberculosis Day and draw attention to the impact of the preventable, curable disease on those without access to medical care.
The World Health Organization recognizes March 24 as World Tuberculosis (TB) Day.
Brier Gyles, a communications officer at Results Canada, advocated for recognition and is glad to see the “Blue” sign at Blue Mountain lit up red today.
“I’m hoping it increases awareness for our local community,” said Gyles, who was born and raised in The Blue Mountains area near Collingwood.
Gyles has always had a passion for international development, global justice, and global health equity. Her work with Results Canada involves advocating for a world without extreme poverty.
TB disproportionately kills people in impoverished communities and remote communities where access to medical care is limited.
“You hear about this ancient disease (TB) and you come to see these numbers and see it’s affecting so many people,” said Gyles.
Though treatable and curable with antibiotics, TB kills 1.5 million people every year.
“It’s important we get the education out there and work together to end this disease,” said Gyles. “It’s preventable, curable and we know we can end it.”
Results Canada is putting pressure on the Canadian government to participate in a program called TB Reach, which provides grants for innovative approaches to increase the number of people diagnosed and treated for TB worldwide. Today, the federal government pledged $11 million to the program.
Before COVID-19, TB was the deadliest infectious disease in the world, according to a news release from Results Canada on World TB Day.
For the first time since 2005, there was an increase in the number of global TB deaths after the COVID pandemic hit.
Though caused by a number of factors, the resurgence in TB is in part because medical resources, particularly the limited capacity in developing countries, were diverted to focus on the COVID pandemic.
“The fight to end TB is far from over,” said Gyles.
Results Canada’s position is that the worldwide TB response is underfunded and under-resourced, and more investment is needed to bring an end to TB-related deaths.
“As landmarks across the country are lit up in red this World TB Day, advocates are calling on the government to step up for those affected by TB at home and abroad, at a time when they need support more than ever,” states the Results Canada news release.
In addition to the sign at Blue, other landmarks like the CN Tower, the Calgary Tower, the Olympic Stadium Tower in Montreal, Science World in Vancouver, the British Columbia Provincial Legislature, and municipal town halls,
A Canadian network called Stop TB Canada leads the national effort to bring an end to the disease by connecting communities, people, and organizations committed to ending TB in Canada and globally.
Stop TB Canada co-chair Tina Campbell said lighting up landmarks like the one at Blue Mountain to alert people about World TB Day is important in the fight against the disease.
“My hope is that we catch the attention of leadership — locally, domestically, and globally — and work towards making TB programming a priority,” said Campbell in the news release. “TB continues to disproportionately affect Indigenous communities in our region… to identify, treat, and prevent TB we need long-term solutions.”
Doctors Without Borders is the largest non-governmental provider of TB care in the world, and, until recently was working in Ukraine’s Zhytomyr region. The project was halted because of the ongoing war, which could lead to increased TB deaths where treatment is no longer being provided. You can read more about the Doctors Without Borders work to fight TB here.
The Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit is also marking World Tuberculosis Day today by promoting the StopTBCanada.ca website and providing educational information to the region’s residents about the impacts of TB.
“Every year in Canada there are approximately 1,600 new cases of active TB reported,” states a news release issued by the health unit. “First Nations, Inuit and Métis people in Canada continue to be disproportionately affected by TB.”
The disease can be fatal when people do not have access to diagnosis and treatment.
According to the health unit, there were 79 reported cases of TB in Simcoe-Muskoka region between 2000 and 2021.
Tuberculosis is a reportable disease; therefore, when an active case of TB is identified in the community the health unit investigates close contacts of the individual to determine if any other persons have become infected. In some cases, those contacts will receive preventative medication. Those taking medications are monitored by public health throughout their treatment.
TB is an airborne bacterial infection caused by the organism Mycobacterium tuberculosis that primarily affects the lungs, although other organs and tissues may be involved. People with active TB can transmit the bacteria to others through the air by coughing and sneezing droplets that can be inhaled by people who are close by.
For more information about TB symptoms, how it spreads, who is at risk, testing and treatment, and how TB can be prevented, visit smdhu.org.
