Every year, March 24 is observed as the World Tuberculosis (TB) Day with an aim to raise public awareness about the devastating health, social and economic consequences of TB and speed up the efforts to end the global TB epidemic.
Key Points
- The date marks the day in 1882 when Dr. Robert Koch announced that he had discovered the bacterium that causes TB, which opened the way towards diagnosing and curing this disease.
- The theme of World TB Day 2021 – ‘The Clock is Ticking’.
- The theme says that it’s time to act on the commitments to end TB made by global leaders and the time is running out.
- This is also very important in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic that has put End TB progress at risk.
- The day is to ensure equitable access to prevention and care in line with WHO’s drive towards achieving Universal Health Coverage.
- Tuberculosis is one of the world’s deadliest diseases killing people.
- Every day, around 4000 lose their lives to TB and nearly 28,000 people fall ill with this preventable and curable disease.
- Global efforts to combat TB have saved approximately 63 million lives since the year 2000.
Background
On the one-hundredth anniversary of Robert Koch’s presentation in the year 1982, the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (IUATLD) put forward its proposal to observe 24 March as official World TB Day. This was part of a year-long centennial effort by the IUATLD and the World Health Organization under the theme “Defeat TB: Now and Forever. World TB Day was not officially recognized as an annual occurrence by WHO’s World Health Assembly and the United Nations until over a decade later.
