Every year, we commemorate World Tuberculosis (TB) Day to raise awareness about the health and socio-economic consequences of tuberculosis and to invest more efforts to bring the global tuberculosis epidemic to an end.
March 24 marks the day in 1882 on which Dr. Robert Koch announced that he had discovered the bacterium that causes tuberculosis, paving the way towards diagnosing and curing this disease.
Director of the Global Tuberculosis Programme at the World Health Organization, Tereza Kasaeva, addressed a video message on this occasion to highlight the remarkable achievements in the fight against tuberculosis (TB) and to raise awareness of its challenges and repercussions.
“As we come together to commemorate World Tuberculosis Day, we stand in solidarity with the millions of people who fall ill with TB each year, and we pay tribute to the millions who have lost their lives from this preventable and curable disease,” stated Kasaeva, expressing her thanks to all health workers at the forefront of the fight against tuberculosis and several other diseases.
Tuberculosis is one the World’s deadliest infectious diseases, killing over 400 thousand people daily and infecting approximately 30 thousand people who fall ill with this preventable and curable disease.
This year, World Tuberculosis Day is commemorated under the theme “Yes! We can end Tuberculosis!,” which aims to promote optimism and high-level leadership in order to increase investments, fasten the adoption of new WHO recommendations, speed up the pace of action, and strengthen multi-sectoral cooperation in the fight against Tuberculosis.
The 2023 United Nations High-Level Conference on Tuberculosis, scheduled to take place next September, is an opportunity to increase the political commitment and awareness of countries, urging them to invest in greater efforts and make further progress.
The World Health Organization will also collaborate with partners to issue a call to action urging Member States to quickly adopt the new, shorter, all-oral WHO-recommended treatment for drug-resistant Tuberculosis.