World TB Day: “It’s Time”

World TB Day is celebrated every year on March 24. This annual event commemorates the date in 1882 when Dr. Robert Koch announced his discovery of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacillus that causes tuberculosis (TB).

Each day, over 4000 people lose their lives to TB and close to 30,000 people fall ill with this disease. Since the year 2000, Global efforts to combat TB have saved an estimated 58 million lives.

First ever UN High Level meeting took place in September 2018 and heads of State came together and made strong commitments to end TB

The theme of World TB Day 2020 is ‘It’s time’. It emphasizes on the urgency to act on the commitments made by global leaders to:

• scale up access to prevention and treatment
• build accountability
• ensure sufficient and sustainable financing including for research
• promote an end to stigma and discrimination
• promote an equitable, rights-based and people-centered TB response.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has launched a joint initiative “Find. Treat. All. #EndTB” with the Global Fund and Stop TB Partnership, with the aim of accelerating the TB response and ensuring access to care to everyone.