March 24 is the anniversary of Dr. Robert Koch announcing,in 1882, the discovery of the bacterium that causes tuberculosis. Just a shorttime ago the assumption was that TB would one day be eradicated. Today, thedisease is back with a vengeance and the date the Dr. Koch announced hisdiscovery is commemorated as World TB Day. Had I been in the United States on March 24 – WorldTB Day – I probably would not have even been aware of the day's significance. Iencounter few Americans who think about TB today and have talked with some whoactually believe that the disease was successfully eradicated. Nothing could befarther from the truth in South Africa – the nation with the fourth highestburden of TB in the world. In 2006, over 450,000 new cases of tuberculosis werereported in South Africaalone. Of those patients, 44% also had HIV/AIDS. Perhaps even more disturbingis that in South Africa,7,300 cases of multi-drug resistant TB have been diagnosed, along with 500cases of "extremely" drug resistant tuberculosis.

The Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) has been at theforefront of HIV/AIDS activism in South Africa since 1998. It is asocial movement that was started to gain universal access to treatment for allSouth Africans with HIV/AIDS. Given the high prevalence of co-infections withHIV/AIDS and tuberculosis, TAC now also works on educating the public on TB.

At 5:00 a.m. on the morning of World TB Day, TAC volunteersspread out around the Khayelistha, one of the largest townships in South Africa located just minutes from Cape Town, distributingleaflets to workers as they hurriedly made their way in the darkness to catchthe trains that would take them to their jobs in the city. In addition to theleaflets, the activists handed out masks that, when worn, can greatly reducethe risk of transmitting tuberculosis.

TAC also used World TB Day to launch a special initiativeaimed specifically at the township taxi drivers. Since TB can be spread from acough or a sneeze, TAC encouraged the drivers of the often over-crowded taxis(that can accommodate 16 passengers) to open the windows to let fresh air intothe congested vans. Bumper stickers exclaiming "Stop TB! Open the windows!"were provided to any driver who would place the sticker on their vehicle. Theactivists then journeyed to Cape Town, in thevery taxis they were targeting for their education campaign, for a "Stop TB"demonstration through the streets of what is commonly known as the "Mother City."

Given the devastating impact that TB is having in placeslike South Africa and in other parts of the globe – combined with the rise of drug-resistantstrains of tuberculosis that have been identified in recent years – perhapsit's time that World TB Day really does become an international event, and notone that is primarily relegated to parts of the planet that aredisproportionately affected by the disease