“Yes! We can end TB!”
Each year, we commemorate World Tuberculosis (TB) Day on 24 March to raise awareness about the devastating health, social and economic consequences of TB, and to step up efforts to end TB.
Tuberculosis (TB) remains one of the world’s deadliest infectious killers and the leading cause of death of people living with HIV. Every day in the Western Pacific Region, approximately 280 people lose their lives to TB and close to 5000 people fall ill with this preventable and curable disease.
While more than 1 million people living with TB in the Western Pacific were on treatment in 2022, over 35% of the estimated new cases are not being reported . Multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) also remains a public health crisis and a health security threat in the Region. Only about 1 in 3 people with drug resistant TB in the Western Pacific accessed treatment in 2022.
The theme of World TB Day 2024 - ‘Yes! We can end TB!’ – conveys a message of hope that getting back-on-track to turn the tide against the TB epidemic is possible through high-level leadership, increased investments and faster uptake of new WHO recommendations.
The 2023 UN General Assembly High-Level Meeting on TB set out new targets from 2023-2027 to accelerate progress to end TB. The new targets include reaching 90% of people in need with TB prevention and care services; using a WHO-recommended rapid test as the first method of diagnosing TB; providing a health and social benefit package to all people with TB; ensuring the availability of at least one new TB vaccine that is safe and effective; and closing funding gaps for TB implementation and research by 2027.
Everyone has a role to play in ending TB – individuals, communities, businesses, governments, societies.
Online Talk Show – 19 March 2024
WHO is organizing a special Talk Show to commemorate World TB Day on 19 March 2024 at 14:30 CET (20:30 Manila).
To help countries reach the target on scaling up access to TB preventive treatment, WHO will release an investment case at the event. Increased access to TB preventive treatment and screening services for TB disease creates efficiencies and can lead to massive health and financial gains.
The event will take place in a talk-show format with speakers joining in person or connected by video on WHO’s interactive web-platform – End TB Forum. The main speakers will include WHO leadership, Ministers, leaders and other high-level government representatives, Heads of Agencies, TB survivors, civil society, and partners. The Show will be broadcast live, with interactive Q&A from the audience online.
Listen to a TB survivor's story