Saudi Arabia marked the World Tuberculosis Day with Kingdom-wide educational programs, symposia and awareness drive on Monday. Leading the drive were the Saudi Ministry of Health and leading health institutions such as the Saudi Aramco Medical Services Organizations (SAMSO). The global death toll of tuberculosis is around three million, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). In Saudi Arabia alone, 3,774 patients died of tuberculosis in 2006. The Ministry of Health said the number could be even more, considering that many more people are infected but show no signs of tuberculosis, which can remain dormant for years. SAMSO has set up display centers and distributed anti-TB awareness literature and educational materials in both Arabic and English among Saudi Aramco communities. The medical relations office of SAMSO said that the awareness campaign will be extended to locations such as shopping malls and other public places. Also, an exhibition on awareness and prevention will be held in the Mall of Dhahran on Wednesday and Thursday. The Saad Speacialist Hospital marked the day with the theme “TB or not TB? This is the Question.” “We have a range of activities to heighten awareness of tuberculosis, a disease far from eradicated,” said Musaika Al-Ksaligi, head of the Patient and Family Education department at the hospital. She said the hospital conducted competitions and quizzes to probe the depth of awareness on tuberculosis. India ranks number one in tuberculosis prevalence in the world with an alarming 17 percent. There are patients who have developed multi-drug resistance, according to WHO. Tuberculosis continues to be a major health problem worldwide. In 1997, WHO estimated that 32 percent of the global population was infected with TB bacteria. The emergence of drug-resistant organisms threatens to make this disease once again incurable. In 1993, WHO declared tuberculosis a global emergency. The US has the lowest rates, with foreign-born Americans accounting for the majority of the cases, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Up to 8 million new tuberculosis cases are reported each year, and more than 90 percent of these occur in developing nations that have poor resources and high numbers of people infected with HIV. With the spread of AIDS, tuberculosis continues to threaten even more people, especially those infected with HIV. __
