World TB Day

World TB Day, annual observance held on March 24 that is intended to increase global awareness of tuberculosis. This date coincides with German physician and bacteriologist Robert Koch’s announcement in 1882 of his discovery of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacillus that causes the disease. The first World TB Day was held one century later—in 1982.

In the 1980s the incidence of tuberculosis was on the rise worldwide. This increase came after nearly 20 years of the disease’s being at an all-time low in developed countries, such as the United States and the United Kingdom. Its return to those countries was attributed to several factors, including global increases in travel and migration and in the incidence of HIV/AIDS, as well as local decreases in concern about the risk of infection among public health agencies. This prompted the World Health Organization (WHO) to establish World TB Day. An annual observance would serve to draw the attention of researchers, funding agencies, and the public to the global fight against tuberculosis. World TB Day was initially sponsored by WHO in conjunction with support from other groups, such as the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease.

However, the initial efforts by WHO and supporting organizations were not able to stop the spread of tuberculosis in developing regions of the world. The disease was a desperate problem in those areas, especially in countries in Africa, where the number of cases increased annually throughout the 1990s. In response, WHO and supporting groups stepped up their efforts and called on other national and international agencies to assist in raising awareness and increasing financial resources devoted to stopping the spread of tuberculosis. As a result, the global incidence of new cases of the disease stabilized in the early 2000s. However, despite case stabilization, between 1.5 and 2 million people worldwide were dying annually from tuberculosis during this period. Today the emergence of drug-resistant strains of tuberculosis bacilli has raised concern among researchers and health agencies in all countries affected by the disease. Infection with resistant strains requires treatment with multiple drugs, which can be prohibitively expensive for impoverished health care systems. Thus, today World TB Day continues to be an important means of connecting researchers and funding organizations with health care workers and the public in countries in need.

Today the Stop TB Partnership, formed in the late 1990s and originally known as the Stop TB Initiative, is the primary international sponsor of World TB Day. The Stop TB Partnership is made up of a network of international and national health agencies and organizations. The common goals of the partnership include raising global awareness of tuberculosis and supporting efforts aimed at preventing and developing a cure for the disease. The Stop TB Partnership is supported in its efforts primarily by WHO, but other organizations, including the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, play important supporting roles as well. In preparation for World TB Day, those organizations work to assemble materials and information that can be released to the press and the public.

On World TB Day, workshops for the media, meetings between international organizations, and gatherings of scientists involved in tuberculosis research enable the sharing and dissemination of information on current issues relating to the disease. Efforts also are made to deliver information on the development of new treatments and tools for diagnosis to doctors and health care facilities in countries worldwide. Raising public awareness of tuberculosis on World TB Day is facilitated by charity and other fundraising events, memorial services, and various educational programs and activities.