24 March 2003

Congratulations on a successful World TB Day 2003!

There was an amazing array of events around the globe for World TB Day 2003, drawing crowds, raising awareness, mobilizing funds and educating widely – all to STOP TB.

Getting media coverage for World TB Day 2003 and TB issues was particularly challenging this year. Despite the dual tragedies of the war in Iraq and the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, which took up much media attention, there was still very good media coverage of World TB Day 2003. This was a direct result of all your hard work.

So, congratulations on a job well begun! The focus for everyone now is on maintaining the momentum of volunteers and campaign organizers to keep educating, keep awareness high, keep TB patient advocates actively involved, and keep TB on the agenda of local, regional and national politicians. Increasing levels of TB case detection is critical this year, and these are the avenues to success. Make it a year-round campaign!

Please remember to fill out the World TB Day 2003 questionnaire (attached, Word version) and send it back to us at the Stop TB Partnership Secretariat (stoptbadvocacy@who.int). This information will contribute to the World TB Day 2003 Highlights Report (pdf file 1380kb), and it will help the Stop TB Partnership to provide better support for global advocacy efforts in the future. Don’t forget to send copies of your news clippings and photographs, if you are able to do so.

If you don’t already have a copy of the questionnaire, you can find it on the website at www.stoptb.org/events/world_tb_day/2003/ in English, French, Spanish and Russian (.pdf version). You can email your completed questionnaire to: stoptbadvocacy@who.int or fax it to: 41-22-7914486. You can also mail it to:

Stop TB Partnership Secretariat
CDS/STB
World Health Organization
20, Avenue Appia
1211 Geneva, 27
Switzerland

• You can find the entire content of this web alert, as well as previous ones on the Stop TB website at: /events/world_tb_day/2003/Alerts/default.asp
• TB Advocacy - A Practical Guide 1999 (html) or (pdf file 7741kb) [WHO/TB/98.239] - This practical guide outlines four basic steps that are essential for an effective advocacy initiative--documenting the situation, packaging the message, working with the media and mobilizing others.
• You can find the Stop TB Image Library at: http://www.worldlungfoundation.org/library.html
• For more information on planning for World TB Day 2003, consult "Guidelines for Social Mobilization: Planning World TB Day", available online at: www.stoptb.org/events/world_tb_day/2000/assets/documents/tbguide.pdf or order a hard copy from the CDS Documents Centre by emailing: CDSDOC@who.int.
• For more information on World TB Day 2003, visit our website at: www.stoptb.org/events/world_tb_day/2003/default.asp or contact the Stop TB Partnership Secretariat at: stoptbadvocacy@who.int.