How to reach zero tuberculosis deaths among children

Photo Credit: Dr Essam Elmoghazy

Dr. Essam Elmoghazy, Egypt 
Consumption, phthisis, scrofula, Pott's disease, and the White Plague are some of the various terms used to refer to tuberculosis throughout history. Today, more than 2 billion people worldwide are infected with the bacterium that causes TB. Although most infected people do not become ill, in 2011, an estimated 8.7 million people became sick with TB, and 1.4 million people died, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). WHO also revealed that up to 74 000 children die from TB each year and children account for around half a million new cases annually.

Tobacco industry interference in controlling tobacco consumption

A nineteenth-century, tin box of
 Kyriazi Frères brand, Egyptian cigarettes

Dr. Essam Elmoghazy, Egypt 
The tobacco epidemic is one of the biggest public health threats the world has ever faced, killing nearly six million people a year. More than five million of these deaths are the result of direct tobacco use while more than 600 000 are the result of non-smokers being exposed to second-hand smoke. Approximately one person dies every six seconds due to tobacco, accounting for one in 10 adult deaths.