Leading Progress in Ending TB

Each year on March 24, CDC joins the global community to observe World Tuberculosis (TB) Day – an important moment to unite in support, attention, and energy to end TB.   Although preventable and treatable, TB remains one of the world’s deadliest infectious diseases, taking the lives of 1.6 million people annually. With nearly 11 million people becoming ill with TB in 2021, this disease continues to prove that a threat of TB anywhere is a threat everywhere.

The theme for this year’s observance, ”Yes! We Can End TB,” highlights the determination and enthusiasm of global partners as we join forces to end the global TB epidemic. CDC is on the frontlines in 25 countries with high TB prevalence. Partnering with ministries of health, CDC is sustaining efforts to diagnose, cure, and prevent this disease. On World TB Day, CDC joins our global partners in affirming our commitment to ending TB– creating a safer America and world.

Resources

Social Media Cards
Shareable graphics highlighting key information
TB Factsheet .pdf file download

Factsheets
Faces from the Frontlines
TB Factsheet .pdf file download

CDC’s contributions in the fight to end TB around the world.

Child and Adolescent TB
TB Preventative treatment .pdf download

An overview of the TB burden among children and adolescents and CDC’s response.

Multidrug-Resistant TB
Multidrug-Resistant TB Factsheet file download

This brief overview describes CDC’s response to the global threats of multidrug-resistant TB.

Leadership Statement

A message from CDC Director Rochelle Walensky, MD, MPH, on World TB Day.

CDC Director, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, MD, MPH
World Tuberculosis (TB) Day acknowledges the impact of TB around the world and the progress made against this disease. TB is preventable and treatable, yet it remains one of the world’s deadliest infectious diseases, taking the lives of 4,300 people each day. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is working in the United States and around the world to prevent, detect, and cure, TB and to raise awareness of challenges that continue to impede our progress toward eliminating this devastating disease.      
Click here for the full message

Global TB Elimination Champions

CDC recognizes global organizations, individuals, and initiatives that have made significant contributions to ending TB. Click on the drop-down links below for more information on their unique contributions toward eliminating TB.

Placing People at the Center of our Work

Placing People at the Center of our Work

CDC is on the frontlines in some of the world’s highest-burden regions, working to understand what’s driving the spread of TB, including drug-resistant TB, and how to stop it. In India, a country with one of the highest burdens of drug-resistant TB in the world, CDC developed comprehensive, person-centered interventions to improve treatment outcomes in Mumbai’s Dharavi slum where historically less than half of individuals diagnosed with drug-resistant TB complete their treatment. Efforts included support to help clients adhere to taking their medication, monitoring for adverse events, and providing services to help link those who relocated to continued care. As a result of CDC-supported interventions, 88 percent of current drug-resistant TB patients in Dharavi remain on or have completed treatment as of January 2023.

Learn more about CDC’s impact and how the use of individualized approaches ensures that those who need care receive it.

Success Years in the Making

Success Years in the Making

Through the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), CDC is spearheading efforts to address the historical gaps in providing lifesaving TB Preventive Treatment (TPT) to those at increased risk of getting TB– particularly children and people living with HIV.

Each year, in Uganda, nearly 30,000 people living with HIV will develop active TB disease. But there is hope, as a recent CDC analysis of PEPFAR data shows Uganda is stopping the spread of HIV-associated TB by providing lifesaving TPT to people living with HIV. By providing TPT at both HIV and TB clinics and leveraging partnerships with the Ministry of Health, Uganda saw a dramatic increase from less than 1 percent of eligible people receiving TPT in 2016 to nearly 90 percent in 2022. Through this dynamic approach, more people are accessing lifesaving treatment and staying in care, with TPT completion rates more than tripling during the six-year period.

Learn more about these milestones in Emerging Infectious Diseases or listen below as Dr. Deus Lukoye, an epidemiologist at CDC, discusses the impact of TPT among people living with HIV in Uganda.

Resources

CDC’s Division of Global HIV & TB offers the following resources, which can be shared across various networks.


Global TB Brief

Learn how CDC is leading the way in evidence-based TB interventions toward ending the TB epidemic worldwide.


Treating TB in the United States

CDC is engaging with communities across the United States to sustain impact in areas disproportionately affected by TB through capacity-building efforts like the TB Elimination Alliance, and the communications campaign Think. Test. Treat TB. aimed at raising awareness of TB prevention and promoting testing for and treatment of latent TB infection.