The international community will celebrate World Tuberculosis Day on Monday, 24 March this year. The theme for 2025 is “Yes! We Can End TB: Commit, Invest, Deliver,” a call for optimism, accountability, and resolve. This will be the 43rd World Tuberculosis Day, commemorating the date in 1882 when Dr Robert Koch announced the discovery of the bacteria that causes tuberculosis (TB). Despite this long history, this disease remains a major public health problem. TB, a disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M tuberculosis), primarily affects the lungs, but can also infect other organ systems. M tuberculosis often causes an inactive infection, where the bacteria live in the body without causing symptoms, but active infections can occur when the immune system cannot stop the bacteria from growing, causing disease symptoms. TB is especially dangerous for children under five years old, who are more likely to develop active TB infections that can be both serious and deadly. Although TB is preventable and curable, this deadly disease persists in communities around the world.
According to GlobalData epidemiologists, there were nearly four million new TB cases diagnosed across 16 major markets (16MM: US, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, UK, Japan, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, India, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, South Korea) in 2024. By 2033, this number is forecast to increase to nearly 4.5 million new cases per year. Some countries, especially those with universal health coverage, are projected to decrease their cases of TB, but across nearly all countries covered by GlobalData’s expanded markets, TB cases are forecast to increase. In recent years, there have been gains in the timely treatment of infective TB cases and prevention of TB infection, which have contributed to controlling this disease. New trends, however, threaten the progress that has been made to stop the spread of TB.
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On 20 January 2025, the US Government announced the suspension of funding for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which supported nearly half of all international donor funding for TB prevention and treatment programs in many low-income countries. This includes direct funding for patients’ prescription antibiotics, but also logistical support to transport samples to laboratories, payment for community-based case finding, and research funds to find new diagnostics and therapies. Without this funding, TB will likely spread faster and kill more people who could have been cured with proper treatment. Additionally, with partial courses of antibiotic treatments now interrupted, multidrug-resistant TB strains will have the opportunity to emerge, making TB treatment more complex and expensive when it resumes. However, without the surveillance conducted and coordinated by USAID and partners, the true impact of this funding change will be difficult to understand.
On this World TB Day, a renewed commitment must be made to reach all patients with TB and prevent the spread of disease. TB is treatable, curable, and preventable. Moreover, it reminds the international community that the end of TB is not just possible, but a public health imperative.
