World Tuberculosis Day

World Tuberculosis Day

Every year, 24 March is observed as World TB Day to amplify the urgency of ending tuberculosis (TB), the world’s deadliest infectious disease. TB continues to devastate millions globally, inflicting severe health, social and economic consequences.

This year’s theme is “Yes! We Can End TB: Commit, Invest, Deliver”. It offers an opportunity to reflect on ongoing efforts and encourage stronger commitment at local, national and international levels to end TB, including by combatting the growing threat of drug-resistant TB.

Stronger commitment is crucial, especially as declining international funding for TB in the current geopolitical climate threatens the achievement of global targets to end TB by 2030.

TB is a contagious airborne disease caused mainly by Mycobacterium tuberculosis which most often affects the lungs. TB is spread through the air when people with lung TB cough, sneeze or spit. A person needs to inhale only a few germs to become infected.

In the WHO European Region, just over 170 000 new episodes of TB were reported to national health systems in 2023. Though the Region accounts for only 2.1% of the global TB burden, it continues to be the most severely affected by drug-resistant forms of the disease: the Region is home to one fifth of the global number of multidrug-resistant TB cases (21%) and more than a third of pre-extensively drug-resistant TB cases (37%).

As part of activities to mark this year’s World TB Day, WHO/Europe and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) will host a webinar on 19 March 2025 to share insights on the upcoming 2025 TB Surveillance Report for Europe, to be launched on World TB Day, and to discuss the progress required in the years ahead to end TB in the Region.