Tuberculosis is one of the world's worst infectious killers, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Every day, over 4,100 people lose their lives, and close to 28,000 individuals become ill as a result of tuberculosis, despite the fact that is a preventable and curable disease.
Since 2000, global efforts to eliminate tuberculosis have saved an estimated 66 million lives, says the WHO. The COVID-19 epidemic, however, did halt years of progress in the fight against the disease, with tuberculosis deaths increasing in 2020 for the first time in over a decade.
Date
World Tuberculosis Day is observed every year on March 24. Dr Robert Koch, a German physician and one of the founders of bacteriology, announced in 1882 that he had discovered the bacteria that causes tuberculosis, paving the way for diagnosis and treatment of the disease.
Significance
World Tuberculosis Day is observed to raise awareness about the disease's health, social, and economic repercussions, as well as to intensify efforts to stop the global tuberculosis epidemic
Theme
‘Invest to End TB. Save Lives.' This is the theme for World Tuberculosis Day 2022. It emphasises the urgent need to invest resources to ramp up the battle against the disease.
History
Dr Koch reported the discovery of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacteria that causes tuberculosis, on March 24, 1882. During that time, tuberculosis killed one out of every seven people in the US and Europe, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The findings made by Dr Koch were the most significant step toward the control and eradication of this disease. World Tuberculosis Day was designated a century later, on March 24, 1982.
World Tuberculosis Day is an important opportunity to inform people about the havoc caused by the disease and how it can be prevented.