World Tuberculosis Day 2025

World Tuberculosis Day 2025

24 March

79 million 
lives saved since 2000 by global efforts to end TB

 

 

10.8 million
people fell ill with TB in 2023

 

1.25 million
people died of TB in 2023

 

World TB Day observed annually on March 24, amplifies the urgency of ending tuberculosis—the world’s deadliest infectious disease. TB continues to devastate millions globally, inflicting severe health, social, and economic consequences. This year’s theme, Yes! We Can End TB: Commit, Invest, Deliver, is a bold call for hope, urgency, and accountability. 

 

 

World TB Day statement of WHO Goodwill Ambassador for TB and HIV/AIDS

Written statement to the WHO World TB Day 2025 Online Talk Show: Prof Peng Liyuan, WHO Goodwill Ambassador for Tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS

Chinese (original version)
English

 

 

Key messages

Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in UNGA High-level leadership and action to end TB
Patient visitation in Pu Tong Village

Commit

World leaders at the 2023 UN High-Level Meeting pledged to accelerate efforts to end TB. Now, we need real action: rapid implementation of WHO guidance and policies, strengthened national strategies, and full funding.

Invest

TB cannot be defeated without proper financing. We need a bold, diversified approach to fund innovation, to close gaps in access to TB prevention, treatment and care, as well as to advance research and innovation.

Deliver

Turning commitments into action means scaling up proven WHO-recommended interventions: early detection, diagnosis, preventive treatment, and high-quality TB care, particularly for drug-resistant TB. Success depends on community leadership, civil society action, and cross-sector collaboration.

 

Act now. Invest now. Deliver now. Together, yes we can end TB.

About World TB Day - Background

  • TB remains one of the world’s deadliest infectious killers.
  • Each day, close to 3425 people lose their lives to TB and close to 30,000 people fall ill with this preventable and curable disease.
  • Global efforts to combat TB have saved an estimated 79 million lives since the year 2000. There was a significant worldwide recovery in the scale-up of TB diagnosis and treatment services in 2022. It shows an encouraging trend starting to reverse the detrimental effects of COVID-19 disruptions on TB services.
  • In its latest Global Tuberculosis Report, WHO highlighted that more than 8.2 million people with TB received access to diagnosis and treatment in 2023 up from 7.5 million in 2022 and far above the levels of 5.8 million in 2020 and 6.4 million in 2021. There is still a large global gap between the estimated number of people who fell ill with TB and the number of people newly diagnosed.
  • In addition, the UN General Assembly High-Level Meeting agreed on new targets to end TB, and we launched the TB Vaccine Accelerator Council, to facilitate the development, licensing, and equitable use of new TB vaccines.
  • However, progress was insufficient to meet global TB targets set in 2018 with disruptions caused by the pandemic and ongoing conflicts being major contributing factors.