March 24th is World Tuberculosis Day. The observance is an opportunity to draw attention to one of the world’s oldest and deadliest diseases. This year’s theme is “Yes! We can end TB!” It is the same theme as last year’s, to emphasize a message of hope to those who continue to suffer with the disease.
The date commemorates Dr. Robert Koch's 1882 discovery of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacterium that causes the disease. Dr. Koch’s breakthrough opened the way towards diagnosing and curing TB: the first steps in a decades-long journey which culminated in the discovery and eventual mass production of antibiotics.
Tuberculosis, or TB, has plagued humans for thousands of years. The bacterium that causes it is believed to have evolved along with people, and it is still evolving.
The good news is that since the year 2000, 75 million lives have been saved, thanks to global efforts to end Tuberculosis. The bad news is that as recently as 2022, 10.6 million people fell ill with the disease and 1.3 million died of it.
Most TB deaths occur in the developing world, where the disease is closely linked to poverty. For one, impoverished people are more likely to live in overcrowded conditions with poor ventilation and lack proper hygiene and nutrition. These are the perfect conditions for the spread of this contagious illness. Second, the poor often lack access to diagnosis and care, or effective treatment may not be accessible or dependable.
At the time of Dr. Koch’s discovery of the Tuberculosis bacterium, TB was one of the world’s most feared diseases, reaching epidemic levels in Europe and the Americas and causing one out of every seven deaths. Today, it is still the world’s deadliest infectious disease. With treatment, the recovery rate stands at about 85 percent. Without treatment, TB kills half of its victims.
The United States is a leader in the fight against TB. In 2023, USAID launched the Global Accelerator to End TB Plus initiative. One of the program’s ambitious goals is to reach and deliver prevention and care services to 90 percent of people with TB. If countries that pledged funding for the program follow through on their commitments, we may see the end of this killer disease by 2030.
