World Tuberculosis (TB) Day is annually observed across the globe on 24th March to raise global awareness about TB and mobilize efforts to eliminate the disease.
- The theme for World Tuberculosis Day 2025 is ‘Yes! We Can End TB: Commit, Invest, Deliver’, emphasizes urgency, accountability, and collective action.
Note: The United Nations (UN’s) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aims to end TB by 2030.
Background:
i.On 24 March 1882, German Doctor and Microbiologist Dr. Robert Koch announced his discovery of the ‘tubercle bacillus’ (later named Mycobacterium tuberculosis or M. tb) at the University of Berlin’s Institute of Hygiene, in Berlin, Germany.
- In 1905, Dr. Robert Koch was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his TB research.
ii.In 1982, on the centenary of Koch’s discovery, the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (IUATLD) and the World Health Organization (WHO) proposed designating 24 March as World TB Day under the campaign “Defeat TB: Now and Forever”.
iii.The first World TB Day was officially observed on March 24, 1983.
TB Surveillance Report 2025
On World TB Day 2025, Solna (Sweden) based European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and Copenhagen (Denmark) based World Health Organization (WHO) Europe released the “Tuberculosis Surveillance and Monitoring in Europe 2025” report.
- The report highlights a 10% increase in paediatric TB cases among children under 15 years in the WHO European Region (covering 53 countries in Europe and Central Asia) in 2023 compared to 2022.
i.4.3% of new and relapsed TB cases in the WHO European Region and the European Union/European Economic Area (EU/EEA) were children under 15 years.
ii.Over 650 additional TB cases were reported in children between 2022 and 2023, marking the third consecutive year of increase.
iii.1 in 5 children with TB in the EU/EEA did not have confirmed treatment completion, raising concerns about drug-resistant TB (DR-TB).
Global Impact and Current Efforts
i.TB remains one of the world’s deadliest infectious diseases, claiming over 1.3 million lives annually (WHO, 2023).
ii.The WHO End TB Strategy aims to reduce TB deaths by 95% and incidence by 90% by 2035.
iii.India, which accounts for 27% of global TB cases, launched the National Tuberculosis Elimination Programme (NTEP) in 2020 to achieve TB-free status by 2025.
India Completes 10,000 TB Genome Sequences, Aims for Early Elimination
On World TB Day 2025, Union Minister of State (MoS) Dr. Jitendra Singh, Minister of Science and Technology (MoS&T) announced the completion of 10,000 genome sequences of Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates, marking progress toward India’s goal to eliminate TB by 2025—five years ahead of the World Health Organization (WHO)’s 2030 target.
Genomic Surveillance Initiative
i.Part of the Dare2eraD TB program (Data Driven Research to Eradicate TB), launched on 24 March 2022.
ii.Led by the Indian Tuberculosis Genomic Surveillance (InTGS) Consortium involving:
- Department of Biotechnology (DBT)
- Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)
- Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)
iii.Aims to sequence 32,000+ TB isolates to detect drug resistance and improve treatments
Telangana Wins National Award for Excellence in TB Testing Under ‘TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyan‘
Telangana received the Best National Performance Award in NAAT (Nucleic Acid Amplification Test) testing during the 100-day ‘TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyan’ campaign. The award was presented by Union Minister J.P. Nadda, Minister of Health and Family Welfare (MoH&FW) on World TB Day 2025 in New Delhi (Delhi).
- The award was conferred in recognition of achieving over 100% screening of vulnerable populations in 9 TB-affected districts in Telangana, identifying over 4,600 new TB cases.
