WHO: Gearing Up for World TB Day 2025

24 February 2025

24 February 2024, Geneva | In just one month, millions around the globe will come together to commemorate World TB Day on 24 March. The theme of World TB Day 2025 – ‘Yes! We Can End TB: Commit, Invest, Deliver’ is a bold call for hope, urgency, and accountability. Aligned with this year’s theme, the World Health Organization (WHO) is urging immediate and decisive action across multiple fronts:

Commit – World leaders at the 2023 UN High-Level Meeting pledged to accelerate efforts to end TB. Now, we need real action: rapid implementation of WHO guidance and policies, strengthened national strategies, and full funding.

Invest – TB cannot be defeated without proper financing. We need a bold, diversified approach to fund innovation, to close gaps in access to TB prevention, treatment and care, as well as to advance research and innovation.

Deliver – Turning commitments into action means scaling up proven WHO-recommended interventions: early detection, diagnosis, preventive treatment, and high-quality TB care, particularly for drug-resistant TB. Success depends on community leadership, civil society action, and cross-sector collaboration.

“At the second UN High-Level Meeting on TB, Heads of State reaffirmed WHO’s pivotal leadership role, explicitly mandating the organization to guide Member States toward achieving ambitious global targets,” said Dr Tereza Kasaeva, Director of WHO’s Global Programme on Tuberculosis and Lung Health. “WHO stands committed to drive progress including delivering essential normative guidance, and supporting countries to transform commitment and challenges into opportunities and concrete, measurable outcomes that can save lives. On this World TB Day, we must leverage our collective momentum and intensify action towards ending this ancient disease.”

Access here an overview of key WHO events and an advocacy package developed to support awareness building and drive action across all levels, in the lead up to and on World TB Day.