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2023: Yes We Can End TB!
March 24, 2023 was an important day for global health actors: World TB Day. On this occasion, Blossom Trust organized a multitude of actions to raise awareness about TB, its treatment methods, its social impacts and its Champions. This year’s theme for the campaign was: Yes! We Can End TB.
World TB Day Events
The day started in the town of Sivakasi in Virudhunagar district where a bike rally was organized with the boys from the college. The Mayor, Deputy Mayor, TB Officer of Virudhunagar District and the Corporation Commissioner arrived and we collected their signatures on the Stop TB board.
Back in Virudhunagar, the University Girls' Prevention Walk was taking place. They were chanting slogans about TB prevention and lasted about an hour. It ended with the trainee team distributing drinks and snacks to the participants.
Finally, we went to V.V.V Nursing College to attend a conference on the importance of TB control. During this conference a prize giving was held for the college student victors of various different competitions related to TB.
The day was a great opportunity to raise awareness among various audiences and to include key health stakeholders in a daily effort we are making at Blossom Trust.
Our TB Advocate Panchavarnam participating in the Yes! We Can End TB Campaign.
In parallel, we ran a prevention campaign on our social networks for 3 weeks. If the events organized by Blossom have an impact on the local public, we also have the will to do prevention on a larger scale. Thus, our campaign had three main objectives: raise awareness on TB, to make Blossom visible among key stakeholders in the health sector, and build and strengthen relationships related to TB.
We also organized an international webinar on March 31st 2023. The purpose of the conference was to draw up a list of policy recommendations for the Indian government in the context of India's presidency of the G20 summit this year.
Many participants intervened to discuss TB treatment methods, to talk about personal experiences as people affected by the disease, to discuss how best to include communities in the monitoring of TB projects etc. The exchange was very fruitful and together we were able to draw up a list of policy recommendations on TB to the Indian government.
As a result, the participants identified three main pillars of action:
The scientific aspect: investing in a strong scientific network can facilitate the implementation of medical responses towards population health.
The social aspect: it is important to place the community at the heart of the process. All community members are key-actors of their own life-changing path.
The legal aspect: strong actions against TB stigma and discrimination in a human rights perspective to ensure patients seek the care that they require