Belarus to mark World Tuberculosis Day with awareness raising event at BSU

The Breathe Freely event will take place at Belarusian State University on 24 March. The event is timed to World Tuberculosis Day and is designed to build public awareness about the burden of tuberculosis (TB) and to encourage people to seek medical help timely and to live a healthy life, BelTA learned from the press service of the university.

“Taking part in the event will be students of the university. Everyone will be able to take a free x-ray, test their knowledge in the field of infectious diseases and healthy lifestyles in quizzes and competitions. All the participants will be offered a sweet treat,” the press service said.

In addition, the lecture “World Tuberculosis Day 2021” will be delivered by phthisiatrician of the Minsk Phthisiopulmonology Center Yekaterina Belyaeva. The awareness raising event is organized by the grassroots trade union organization of BSU students with the support of the Red Cross district branch.

World Tuberculosis Day is observed annually on 24 March upon the initiative of the World Health Organization. On this day in 1882, German microbiologist Robert Koch announced that he had discovered the cause of tuberculosis. The disease is transmitted by airborne droplets through household items, as well as by eating meat and dairy products made from sick animals. Tuberculosis is preventable by BCG vaccination. Adults are advised to take a fluorography test to detect the disease at an early stage.