Every year, World Tuberculosis Day (March 24) helps raise awareness on the devastating health, social and economic consequences of TB. The day marks Dr Robert Koch’s announcement, in 1882, that he had discovered the bacterium that causes TB, paving the way to diagnose and cure this disease.
TB remains one of the world’s deadliest infectious killers. Each day, over 4,100 people lose their lives to TB and close to 28,000 fall ill with this preventable and curable disease.
This year’s theme is ‘Invest to End TB. Save Lives’ — a key requirement, given the setback to these efforts due to the pandemic.