World TB Day 2023

• 74 million lives saved since 2000 by global efforts to end TB
• 10.6 million people fell ill with TB in 2021
• 1.6 million people died of TB in 2021
   

World TB Day 2023, with the theme 'Yes! We can end TB!', aims to inspire hope and encourage high-level leadership, increased investments, faster uptake of new recommendations of the World Health Organisation (WHO), adoption of innovations, accelerated action, and multisectoral collaboration to combat the TB epidemic.

This year is critical, with opportunities to raise visibility and political commitment at the 2023 UN High-Level Meeting on TB. The spotlight of World TB Day was on urging countries to ramp up progress in the lead-up to the 2023 UN High-Level Meeting on TB.

WHO also issued a call to action with partners urging Member States to accelerate the rollout of the new WHO-recommended shorter all-oral treatment regimens for drug-resistant TB.

World TB Day is observed annually on March 24 to raise awareness about TB and efforts to end the global epidemic, marking the day in 1882 when the bacterium causing TB was discovered.