"Commit, Invest, Deliver": World TB Day 2025

Lungs with medication next to it.

Following three years in which COVID-19 took the top spot, tuberculosis (TB) is back as the world’s leading infectious killer. According to the 2024 Global Tuberculosis Report, 8.2 million people fell ill with TB in 2023, while 1.25 million people died from TB-related causes. To raise awareness and drive action against this deadly disease, every March 24, the World Health Organization (WHO) observes World Tuberculosis Day. The theme for this year’s campaign is “Yes! We Can End TB: Commit, Invest, Deliver,” representing how countries can take action against TB.

TB is caused by a bacterial infection—Mycobacterium tuberculosis—that most often affects the lungs. One particular thing about TB is that not everyone who is infected with the TB bacteria becomes sick with TB, but those who become sick and don’t get treatment have a high likelihood of dying from TB. TB is preventable and curable with antibiotics—and yet, more than a million people die from TB every year.

The burden of TB in a country is reflective of its social and economic conditions, as well as the strength of its health system. The spread and development of TB is heavily influenced by poverty. TB spreads more easily in crowded and poorly ventilated spaces associated with poverty, and undernutrition due to poverty can weaken a person’s ability to fight infections and stave off active disease. Detection and treatment are key to controlling TB, but low- and middle-income countries with weak health systems often don’t have the infrastructure and investment needed to scale TB screening and delivery of treatment. Another challenge is that treatment regimens often involve multiple drugs taken over 4-6 months, which can be challenging for low-income people who may have trouble continuously accessing health care. Taking the full course of antibiotics without interruptions is important not only for clearing the infection, but also for preventing the development of drug-resistant TB.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, redirection of resources led to disruptions in TB services and a surge in TB cases and deaths. COVID-related disruptions are estimated to have led to 700,000 excess deaths in the four years from 2020 to 2023 compared to if pre-pandemic trends had been maintained. As the world recovers from the pandemic, the estimated number of TB cases and deaths has stabilized and is starting to decline due to strong post-COVID recovery of TB detection and treatment. New advances in diagnostics and vaccines are also presenting opportunities to improve TB services and make them more accessible.

Now, though, severe global health funding cuts are jeopardizing TB responses, disrupting services, and delaying detection and treatment. In order to maintain the gains from post-COVID recovery and meet the targets set out by the 2023 UN High-Level Meeting on TB, more than ever, governments and institutions need to commit to ending TB, invest in infrastructure, access, research, and deliver on scaling up interventions. For the world’s most deadly disease, taking bold action is worth it.

To learn more about the global tuberculosis epidemic, explore our resource pack on Global Infectious Diseases.

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