Jorge Sampaio

The New York Stock Exchange highlighted World TB Day on 24 March by inviting Dr Jorge Sampaio, the UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy to Stop TB, and Stop TB Partners Edward J. Ludwig, Chairman, President and CEO of BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company), and Dr Giorgio Roscigno, CEO of FIND (Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics) to ring the closing bell.

Earlier on the same day, Dr Sampaio, along with senior representatives from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Global Health Council, FIND, and BD participated in a roundtable discussion at Columbia University under the theme of “TB Today: Old Enemy, New Hurdles”. About 100 people attended the event, which was moderated by John Rennie, of the Scientific American.

Mr Rennie summarized the event by describing the TB movement with two words: urgency and dignity. All of the panelists agreed that 2008 is the year to step up advocacy efforts around implementation of the Global Plan to Stop TB.

See also: World TB Day Roundtable Discussion: TB Today: Old Enemy, New Hurdles