It’s time for a world without tuberculosis!

In the period of September 14-21, 2020 the Red Cross of the Republic of North Macedonia. will mark the Week for combating Tuberculosis. In this way, we want to raise public awareness of the importance of the general health, social and economic impact of TB and to accelerate efforts to end the global TB epidemic.

                Despite significant progress in recent decades, TB continues to be the leading infectious killer worldwide, claiming more than 4,500 lives a day and about 30,000 people a day contracting this preventable and curable disease. The emergence of drug-resistant tuberculosis poses a major health hazard and a risk to the benefits gained from efforts to end TB.

When a person develops active TB disease, symptoms such as (fever, cough, night sweats or weight loss) can be mild – unrecognizable and over several months.

            People with active TB can infect 5-15 people through close contact over the course of a year. Without proper treatment, an average of 45% of HIV-negative people with TB and almost all HIV-positive people will die.

          This year’s motto for marking the Red Cross Week of the Red Cross of the Republic of North Macedonia is: It is time for a world without tuberculosis!