World Tuberculosis Day
24
March 2020
In 1982, on the one-hundredth
anniversary of German microbiologist Robert Koch's discovery of tuberculosis,
the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (IUATLD) proposed
that March 24 be proclaimed an official World TB Day. In 1905, Robert Koch
received a Nobel Prize for Medicine for this discovery. The 1982 event was part
of a year-long centennial effort by the IUATLD and the World Health
Organization under the theme “Defeat TB: Now and Forever.” World TB Day was not
officially recognized as an annual occurrence by WHO's World Health Assembly
and the United Nations until over a decade later.
Tuberculosis is an airborne infectious disease. A person with an active form of
TB, if not properly treated, can spread the disease to 10-15 persons over a
period one year. 1,6 million people die of tuberculosis most of them living in
the developing world.