World TB Day, which is held on March 24th every year, commemorates the date in 1882 when Dr. Robert Koch announced his discovery of M. tuberculosis, the organism that causes tuberculosis. His discovery paved the way for the diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis.
The goal of this day is to build public awareness of tuberculosis. TB is a serious problem and still remains an epidemic in much of the world today. According to the World Health Organization¹:
- More than two billion people, or approximately one-third of the world's population, are infected with TB
- Every 20 seconds, someone in the world dies of TB
- 1 in 10 people infected with TB will become sick with active TB in their lifetime
- TB is contagious and spreads through the air. If not treated, each person with active TB disease infects on average 10 to 15 people each year
- TB is the leading infectious killer of people living with HIV/AIDS
- Multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) remains a threat with an estimated 490,000 new cases each year, causing more than 130,000 deaths
The World Health Organisation has emphasized the importance of identifying and treating latent TB, stating:
“Tuberculosis control and elimination strategies must aim at diminishing the incidence and prevalence of latent infection to reduce the pool of those with tuberculosis infection from which future cases of tuberculosis will emanate”.
To learn about the T-SPOT.TB test, the new blood test for
TB, click here.
