Icons of Europe This fleur-de-lys represents the aims of Icons of Europe asbl. The fleur-de-lys figure has been used as an ornament or emblem by almost all civilisations of the old and new worlds.
Tuberculosis issues Toronto | WTBD 2005
TB is a bacterial infection that usually attacks the lungs.  It is spread by coughing and sneezing.  Each year about two million people die in low- and high-income countries from this curable disease.

One third of the world's population carries today the TB bacillus, and someone in the world is newly infected every second.  The body's immune system normally suppresses the infection.  However, the bacillus can survive, remaining dormant until something weakens the immune system - it could be malnutrition, diabetes, tobacco, or HIV/AIDS.

In Hans Christian Andersen's story "The Nightingale", the Chinese emperor saw 'Death sitting on his chest'.

Did the emperor
suffer from TB?
Issues Source
TB and HIV/AIDS form a particularly lethal combination, each speeding the other's assault. WHO
Drug-resistant or multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB)  is caused by inconsistent or partial treatment. WHO
Migrants and refugees suffering form malnutrition and ill health may contract and spread TB. WHO
No vaccine yet exists that is truly effective against adult pulmonary tuberculosis. Stop TB
Government commitment is needed to sustain implementation of the DOTS TB control strategy. WHO
"Industrialised nations tend to regard TB [only] as a disease of the developing world" - not true. BBC/WHO
TB patients in parts of Eastern Europe are 10 times more likely to have MDR-TB than rest of the world. WHO
"Hundreds of thousands of TB deaths in India can be directly linked to smoking, say expert researchers." BBC
The double burden of TB and stigma. Toronto