Landmarks in Victoria to shine red for World Tuberculosis Day

Landmarks in Victoria to shine red for World Tuberculosis Day
CHEK

(City of Victoria)

File photo (City of Victoria)

Victoria City Hall, the B.C. Legislature and the CRD building will all be lit up red Sunday to mark World Tuberculosis Day.

The event is part of an annual global effort to raise awareness of the fight against infectious disease. In Victoria, it will start at sunset around 7:30 p.m. and last until dawn.

RESULTS Canada is the group organizing the event across Canada and says greater awareness is needed to ensure the Canadian government supports initiatives that work towards ending TB.

The organization adds that in 2017, 10 million people around the world including 1,796 people in Canada became sick with the curable and preventable disease — 1.6 million of which died.

The World Health Organization says the date marks the day in 1882 when Dr. Robert Koch announced he had discovered the bacterium that causes TB, which opened the way towards diagnosing and curing this disease.

This year’s theme is  “It’s time”, pushing global leaders to scale up access to prevention and treatment, build accountability, ensure sufficient and sustainable financing including for research, promote an end to stigma and discrimination and promote an equitable, rights-based and people-centered TB response.

More details on the event can be found here.

RESULTS Canada says they are a global movement of passionate citizens committed to raising their voices for a world without extreme poverty, who leverage millions of dollars for programs and improved policies for the world’s poorest people.

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