World Tuberculosis Day 2025: Theme, History, and How You Can Get Involved

Every year on 24 March, we observe World Tuberculosis Day to raise awareness about the devastating health, social, and economic impact of tuberculosis (TB). This date marks the day in 1882 when Dr. Robert Koch announced his discovery of the bacterium that causes TB, paving the way for its diagnosis and treatment.

Despite being preventable and curable, TB remains one of the world’s deadliest infectious diseases, claiming over 4,000 lives daily. World TB Day serves as a crucial reminder of the urgent need for investment, research, and global collaboration. It is an opportunity to mobilise political and social commitment to accelerate efforts toward eliminating TB as a public health burden.

Theme of World TB Day 2025

The World Tuberculosis Day theme for 2025, announced by the Stop TB Partnership, is “Yes! We Can End TB: Commit, Invest, Deliver.” This powerful message emphasises the urgent need for global commitment, increased investment, and decisive action to eliminate tuberculosis as a public health threat.

TB remains one of the world’s deadliest infectious diseases, despite being preventable and curable. The 2025 theme highlights the responsibility of governments, healthcare systems, and communities to commit to stronger policies, invest in research, diagnostics, and treatments, and deliver impactful solutions to end TB.

By raising awareness and driving action, this theme encourages global solidarity in accelerating progress toward TB elimination. It serves as a call to action for policymakers, healthcare professionals, and advocates to strengthen their efforts in ensuring universal access to prevention, treatment, and care. World Tuberculosis Day 2025 is a crucial moment to unite and push for a TB-free future.

Global TB Statistics and Progress

According to the WHO's Global Tuberculosis Report 2022, an estimated 10.6 million people fell ill with TB in 2021, of which 1.6 million died from the disease. While there has been a 9% reduction in TB incidence between 2015 and 2021, the progress is not fast enough to reach the 2030 targets of the End TB Strategy. The COVID-19 pandemic has reversed years of progress, with global TB deaths increasing for the first time in over a decade. Key challenges include:

• Drug-resistant TB remains a public health threat, with over half a million people developing rifampicin-resistant TB each year.
• Many people with TB are still being missed by health systems, particularly in low- and middle-income countries.
• Funding gaps persist, with an additional $1.1 billion per year needed for TB research.

Global TB Statistics and Progress Data

Despite being a preventable and curable disease, TB remains a major global health threat. In 2021, an estimated 10.6 million people fell ill with TB worldwide, and 1.6 million people died from the disease, making it the second leading infectious killer after COVID-19. Eight countries account for two-thirds of the global total: India, Indonesia, China, the Philippines, Pakistan, Nigeria, Bangladesh, and South Africa. The emergence and spread of drug-resistant TB poses additional challenges and health risks.

What is DOT?

Directly Observed Therapy (DOT) is a crucial strategy in tuberculosis (TB) care and control. It involves a trained health worker or treatment supporter watching patients take their medication to ensure adherence. Since TB treatment lasts several months, DOT helps prevent missed doses, reduces the risk of drug-resistant TB, and improves overall treatment success.

By providing support and supervision, DOT ensures patients complete their full course of medication, increasing their chances of a cure. This approach is widely used in global TB programmes to enhance treatment outcomes and prevent the spread of TB within communities.

Common Misunderstandings about TB

There are several misconceptions about tuberculosis that can lead to stigma and hinder efforts to control the disease:

Myth 1: TB is a disease of the past

Although TB has been around for millennia, it remains a major global health problem today, causing millions of illnesses and deaths each year.

Myth 2: TB is not curable

With proper treatment, most cases of TB can be cured. However, drug-resistant forms of TB are more challenging to treat.

Myth 3: TB is highly contagious through casual contact

TB is spread through the air when someone with active TB disease in their lungs coughs or sneezes. But it typically requires prolonged close contact to spread. Most people with latent TB infection cannot spread the bacteria.

WHO Initiatives and Strategies

The World Health Organization (WHO) plays a leading role in coordinating global efforts to prevent, control, and eliminate tuberculosis (TB). Through strategic initiatives, WHO aims to reduce the burden of TB and improve health outcomes worldwide.

A key initiative is the End TB Strategy, which sets ambitious targets to reduce TB deaths by 95% and new cases by 90% between 2015 and 2035. The strategy also ensures that no family faces catastrophic expenses due to TB treatment, promoting equitable access to care.

Another major initiative is the Global Plan to End TB 2023-2030, which outlines priority actions and required resources to eliminate TB within the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) timeframe. This plan emphasizes global collaboration, investment in research, and strengthening healthcare systems.

WHO also supports countries in implementing TB prevention and care strategies, including active TB case-finding, treatment of latent TB infection, and programmatic management of drug-resistant TB. By promoting these evidence-based approaches, WHO helps nations expand access to timely diagnosis, effective treatment, and prevention programs.

These initiatives reflect WHO’s commitment to ending TB as a public health threat and ensuring a TB-free future for all through global solidarity and action.

Stop TB Partnership's Role and Activities

The Stop TB Partnership is a global coalition dedicated to accelerating efforts to end tuberculosis (TB). Hosted by the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), its mission is to ensure that high-quality TB diagnosis, treatment, and care are accessible to all. The Partnership collaborates with over 2,000 partners worldwide, working toward a TB-free world.

For 2025, the World Tuberculosis Day theme "Yes! We Can End TB: Commit, Invest, Deliver" underscores the urgency of political commitment, financial investment, and effective action.

The Stop TB Partnership plays a vital role by:

• Coordinating World TB Day campaigns to raise awareness and mobilise action
• Advocating for increased funding and political commitment to fight TB
• Engaging affected communities and civil society to strengthen the global TB response
• Promoting innovation in TB diagnosis, treatment, and care to improve outcomes

Through these initiatives, the Stop TB Partnership continues to drive progress in eliminating TB as a global health threat.

Community Engagement and Civil Society Involvement

Engaging communities and civil society is crucial for an effective TB response. People affected by TB, community groups, and civil society organisations play a vital role in:

• Raising awareness about TB and reducing stigma
• Supporting patients to complete treatment and addressing barriers to care
• Advocating for patient-centred policies and increased funding for TB programs
• Holding governments and other stakeholders accountable for their commitments

Here are some ways you can get involved:

• Learn about TB and share information with others
• Participate in International TB Day events and campaigns
• Support or volunteer with organisations working on TB in your community
• Advocate for increased political commitment and resources for TB

Innovations in TB Diagnosis and Treatment

Research and innovation are crucial in developing better tools to prevent, diagnose, and treat tuberculosis (TB). Advances in recent years have significantly improved TB detection and treatment options.

One major breakthrough is the development of rapid molecular diagnostic tests, such as Xpert MTB/RIF, which can detect TB and drug resistance within two hours, enabling faster treatment initiation. Additionally, shorter and more patient-friendly treatment regimens for drug-resistant TB are improving outcomes and reducing side effects.

Promising TB vaccine candidates are also in clinical trials, aiming to provide better protection than the century-old BCG vaccine. However, more investment and research are needed to develop a transformative TB vaccine, faster diagnostic tests, and safer, shorter, and more effective treatments for all forms of TB.

Challenges and Future Directions

Despite progress in recent years, significant challenges remain in the fight against TB:

• Drug-resistant TB continues to be a major threat, with growing numbers of cases that are difficult and costly to diagnose and treat.
• Funding gaps persist, with many high-burden countries relying heavily on international donors to support their TB programmes.
• The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted TB services and threatens to reverse years of progress.

To get the world on track to end TB, we need to accelerate action on several fronts:

• Scaling up prevention, with a focus on TB screening and preventive treatment for high-risk groups
• Closing gaps in TB diagnosis, with nearly 3 million cases still being missed each year
• Expanding access to quality TB treatment and care, particularly for drug-resistant TB
• Increasing investments in TB research and development to deliver new tools
• Tackling the underlying social and economic determinants that fuel the TB epidemic

Conclusion: Collective Efforts Towards Ending TB

By raising awareness, mobilising resources, supporting innovation, and working together, we can make TB a disease of the past. This World Tuberculosis Day, let's renew our commitment to ending TB and ensuring that everyone affected by this disease can access the care they need.

At Metropolis Healthcare, we are dedicated to providing high-quality diagnostic services to support TB elimination in India. Our network of state-of-the-art labs across the country offers rapid and reliable TB testing, including drug-susceptibility testing for resistant strains. We also provide convenient at-home sample collection. If you or a loved one need TB testing, reach out to Metropolis. Together, let's end TB!

Also Read: Bone Tuberculosis TB: Symptoms, Causes, Types, Treatment & Diagnosis