BEIJING, March 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — World Tuberculosis Day, which falls on March 24 every year, aims to raise public awareness that tuberculosis remains a global health problem that seriously endangers people’s health.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Tuberculosis Report 2023, there were more than 10.6 million cases of active tuberculosis and 1.3 million deaths worldwide in 2022.
Ahead of this year’s World Tuberculosis Day, Peng Liyuan, wife of Chinese President Xi Jinping and WHO Goodwill Ambassador for Tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS, visited a community in Changsha, capital of central China’s Hunan Province, to learn about tuberculosis prevention and treatment of the country at the grassroots level.
First, she visited the Yuhua District Health Education Center to learn about the facility’s efforts to strengthen health education about tuberculosis and build mechanisms for the prevention and treatment of tuberculosis.
Peng called on everyone to work together as advocates and volunteers to spread knowledge about tuberculosis prevention and treatment among residents and the young generation.
Peng also had a friendly meeting with medical personnel serving the local community and learned more about the management of tuberculosis diagnosis and treatment services at the grassroots level.
After speaking to recovered tuberculosis patients, children awaiting vaccination and their parents, Peng expressed hope that everyone involved will continue to work hand in hand to stop the spread of tuberculosis.
China’s actions
The Chinese government attaches great importance to tuberculosis prevention and treatment and has included it in the Healthy China Strategy.
Speaking to China Media Group, Zhao Yanlin, director of the Center for Tuberculosis Prevention and Control of China CDC, pointed out that tuberculosis morbidity in China has decreased by 25 percent in the past decade, which is more than double is high than the average rate of decline worldwide.
According to Zhao, total national funding for tuberculosis prevention and control in 2023 will be nearly 20 times higher than in 2001.
China has constantly improved support capacity, carried out cross-sectoral cooperation, involved the entire society, and actively promoted new diagnostic methods, therapeutic solutions and management tools. As a result, the tuberculosis cure rate in the country is over 90 percent.
Both the WHO and the United Nations (UN) have high hopes for youth participation in tuberculosis prevention and their commitment to promoting health care for all humanity.
China also attaches great importance to the development of young volunteers and actively promotes voluntary public actions for tuberculosis prevention and control. Over the past 10 years, the number of volunteers in China has increased to over 1 million, more than half of whom are young people.
Questions & Contact:
Jiang Simin,
+86-188-2655-3286,
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