TuberculosisTB in Canada & the world Since our founding in 1900, the Canadian Lung Association has been devoted to combating and controlling tuberculosis. In fact, our original name was The Canadian Association for the Prevention of Consumption and other Forms of Tuberculosis. In the early part of the 20th century, the Canadian Lung Association operated facilities to care for Canadians with this infectious disease. Thanks in part to the work of the Canadian Lung Association, we've seen a dramatic decline in the number of TB cases in Canada. Despite this success, there are still Canadians who get infected and even die from tuberculosis. Find out more about TB in Canada. While TB is less of a problem in Canada, it still poses an enormous threat to people in other parts of the world. TB continues to affect millions of people every year, mainly in developing countries. TB a worldwide epidemic It's estimated that 2 million people die from TB each year and more than 8 million people develop active TB each year. TB strikes people most often during their most productive years. The disease has reached alarming proportions in Africa, Asia and Latin America. In the last decade, TB cases have increased by about 20%. If this trend continues, there will be a total of 36 million deaths from TB by the year 2020. Learn more about the TB around the world. Today, about 70% of TB cases in Canada originate from outside the country. The Canadian Lung Association understands that the only way to control TB locally is by combating TB globally. It is more cost effective to fight tuberculosis in high burden countries than to control it within Canada. In light of this, Canada has developed prevention and surveillance practices to ensure that TB does not threaten the health of Canadians. The Canadian Lung Association's international work to fight TB The Canadian Lung Association's international mandate focuses on creating and implementing activities to build self-sustaining networks and structures to improve respiratory health and to reduce the global burden of lung disease. Learn more about Canada's international role in protecting lung health. The Canadian Lung Association fights tuberculosis internationally in a number of ways. We provide: - Technical and managerial support to strengthen TB control programs in developing countries
- Knowledge transfer to developing healthcare providers and communities
- Support in implementing the Directly Observed Treatment Short course treatment strategy for TB control in low to middle-income countries
- Development of community involvement strategies
- Encouragement of political commitment for TB control
Since 2000, the Canadian Lung Association has offered technical and managerial assistance to Ecuador's National Tuberculosis Control Program. Current international initiatives The Canadian Lung Association is involved in a number of international lung health initiatives. We work to: - Provide knowledge transfer for training and education
- Share results-based resources to strengthen health systems
- Provide and engage in professional development
- Create and participate in global health networks
- Collaborate with national and international partners
The Canadian Lung Association is the secretariat for and a founding member of StopTB Canada, Canada's voice in the global partnership to accelerate social and political action to stop the unnecessary spread of tuberculosis around the world. The Canadian Lung Association also supports international tobacco control and TB in collaboration with other organizations. Websites related to tuberculosis Tuberculosis News - GlobalHealthReporting.org The World Health Organization: Tuberculosis - Strategy and Operations The International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease The Public Health Agency of Canada's Division of Tuberculosis Prevention and Control The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - Division of Tuberculosis Elimination Stop TB Canada Health Connections International
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