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The City of The Hague lights up iconic landmarks for World TB Day

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Sanatorium Zonnestraal, outside The Hague, emblazoned in red for World TB Day. The sanatorium supported the recovery of TB patients between 1928-1950.

The Hague in The Netherlands joined cities worldwide as it turned its landmarks red to mark World TB Day on 24 March and put the city in the spotlight as the host for the 49th Union World Conference on Lung Health in October.

World TB Day [known as World Stop TB Day in The Netherlands] aims to galvanise political and social commitment towards eliminating TB as a public health burden. The Light Up the World for TB initiative – organised by the Stop TB Partnership – is one of the ways governments and local authorities draw attention to the issue.

The Hague lit up eight buildings in red, including the SkyView Wheel De Pier; the Amrâth Kurhaus Hotel; the Zuiderstrand Theatre; the World Forum The Hague; KNCV Tuberculosis Foundation Central Office; Grote Kerk (or The Big Church in The Hague); Paard; and theme park Madurodam, which was founded in 1952 to raise money for students with TB, so they could continue their studies while being treated.  

Watch the video of red landmarks here.

Outside The Hague, Sanatorium Zonnestraal in Hilversum was also emblazoned in red. Appropriately, this sanatorium supported the recovery of TB patients between 1928-1950 and is a candidate to become a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Global landmarks that joined The Hague in turning red for TB included: Paris City Hall; Madrid and another five cities in Spain, including the famous theater in Oviedo; Geneva with the Jet d'Eau and the famous Four Season’s Hotel; CN Tower Toronto; University College London and Leeds Town Hall in the UK; The Ukraine National Parliament building in Kiev; Bucharest City Hall and The National Gallery & History Museum of Armenia in Yerevan.

The Hague’s Light Up the World efforts come ahead of the 49th Union World Conference on Lung Health, to be held in The Hague from 24-27 October 2018. The local hosts of this year’s conference are KNCV Tuberculosis Foundation and The City of The Hague.