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The World Tuberculosis Day is being observed on 24th March every year. The theme chosen for World TB Day-2004 (WTBD) is "Every Breath Counts- Stop TB Now". The Prime Minister on March 25, 2004 said by 2005, the entire country would be covered by DOTS (directly observed treatment, short course, a comprehensive and cost-effective strategy for TB control. He said more than a decade ago, the WHO declared TB a global emergency and in India determined steps were taken to control this epidemic by launching the revised national TB control pro- gramme in 1997. The DOTS strategy adopted under this programme is one of the notable successes in public health in India, he said, adding that its coverage has increased from 130 million five years ago to 800 million of the population in the current year. He said the TB control programme in India has so far prevented 2.6 million infections. It has also saved 5,00,000 lives. 31st December 2003, the total number of patients who had been treated under the RNTCP was 2639194.