24 March

This is a day that provides the opportunity for affected persons and the communities in which they live, governments, civil society organisations, healthcare providers, and international partners to call for further action to reach people who have been infected with TB. All partners can help take forward innovative approaches to ensure that everyone suffering from TB has access to diagnosis, treatment and cure.

TB Day on 24 March commemorates the day in 1882 when Dr Robert Koch astounded the scientific community by announcing that he had discovered the cause of tuberculosis, the TB bacillus.

At the time of Koch’s announcement in Berlin, TB was raging through Europe and the Americas, causing the death of one out of every seven people. Koch’s discovery opened the way toward diagnosing and curing tuberculosis.