World TB Day 24 March 2025

World Tuberculosis (TB) day takes place on 24 March each year. Its purpose is to help raise public awareness and strengthen efforts to end the global TB pandemic. This date commemorates when German scientist Dr Robert Koch discovered the bacterium that causes TB in 1882.

TB is a preventable and curable infection caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis which may infect any part of the body, but most commonly the lungs. TB occurs throughout the world and remains one of the world’s deadliest infections.

The detrimental effects of the COVID-19 pandemic reversed years of progress made in the fight against TB. However, since 2022, there has been a significant global scale-up of TB diagnosis and treatment services which has resulted in an encouraging upward trend in access to appropriate diagnosis and treatment, as demonstrated in the 2024 WHO Global Tuberculosis report.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO):

• In 2023, an estimated 10.8 million people fell ill with TB worldwide, including 6 million men, 3.6 million women and 1.3 million children.
• TB is present in all countries and age groups.
• TB is curable and preventable.
• TB is a major contributor to antimicrobial resistance and is the leading cause of death in people living with HIV.
• Global efforts to combat TB have saved an estimated 79 million lives since the year 2000.

The theme for World TB Day 2025, 'Yes! We Can End TB: Commit, Invest, Deliver' is a call to action for hope, urgency and accountability in the urgent fight to end TB.

Further information about World TB Day 2025 is available on the World Health Organization website

See the TRAVAX Tuberculosis page for advice about the disease and vaccination.

Country specific TB recommendations can be found on the individual country pages.