24 March 2003

World TB Day 2003 is only 10 days away!

In this World TB Day Alert, you will find suggestions on how and why to recognize the work of TB partners and health workers on World TB Day. As well, you will find a campaign checklist to help you ensure you have all the important details looked after in the final days before your World TB Day events begin.

Saying "thank you" to TB partners

Recognizing the efforts of TB partners, front-line health and community care workers, and volunteers is an easy thing to do…yet it doesn’t happen often enough. Take the opportunity presented by World TB Day 2003 to publicly acknowledge the critical role these people play in the fight to stop TB. Doing so will show them that the work they do is appreciated, and that it is making a difference.

If you are holding a public event on World TB Day, you could give a speech of appreciation and name individuals or organizations whom you wish to recognize. If the people are present and the event is appropriate, you could publicly present them with a certificate, a special Stop TB pin or other small token of appreciation. You could ask your keynote speaker, particularly if it is a government official or other VIP speaker, to give this speech and presentation.

Other ways to recognize the work of TB partners, health care workers and volunteers include holding a special lunch to which they have been invited, coordinating a tribute by current and former TB patients, producing a short skit to show how much their work is appreciated, and creating local awards for outstanding efforts in TB care and control.

It doesn’t matter if you are thanking people for doing work they are paid to do anyway. Having motivated partners in TB treatment, care, support and advocacy makes an enormous difference, and you can sustain that motivation by just saying "thank you".

• Send out media advisories or press notices, inviting the media to your key WTBD events;
• Send out a press release;
• Prepare and distribute press kits;
• Phone key media to ensure they are informed;
• Ensure communications material on TB is distributed to the general public or other audiences;
• Prepare the keynote speakers for your events – write speaking notes or make sure they are clear on what they need to say and what their time limits are;
• Plan a recognition event for TB partners, health workers and volunteers;
• Arrange for someone to take photographs of your events (and plan to share your best ones with the Stop TB Image Library;
• Plan to collect media clippings of coverage WTBD receives in your area;
• Fill out the WTBD 2003 questionnaire and return it to the Stop TB Secretariat after WTBD is over.

• 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.