World TB Day
- Diversity & Inclusion Ministry
- 3 days ago
- 2 min read
It spreads through the air. It has shaped human history for millennia. And today, it still kills more than one million people every year. Tuberculosis — TB — is not a disease of the distant past. It is an ongoing global health crisis, and World TB Day, observed each March 24, exists to make sure we don't look away.
TB is both ancient and persistent. It has left its mark on literature, art, and history — and on the lungs of an estimated 10 million people who fall ill with it each year. Despite being preventable and treatable, TB remains the world's deadliest infectious disease for people not counting COVID-19. It disproportionately affects people living in poverty, in overcrowded conditions, and without access to consistent healthcare. It is, at its core, a disease that thrives where systems fail people.
World TB Day marks the anniversary of Dr. Robert Koch's 1882 discovery of the TB bacterium — a breakthrough that opened the door to treatment and eventual cure. But the door is not open equally for everyone. Ending TB requires not just medical research, but the political will to build health systems that reach every person, in every community, around the world.
As people of faith, we believe healing is God's work — and that we are called to participate in it.
Scripture
"But I will restore you to health and heal your wounds," declares the Lord. — Jeremiah 30:17
Prayer
God, healer and nurturer, comfort those living with TB. Inspire those seeking better treatments for the sick. And remind all of us that we are your hands in the world, tasked with caring for one another.
Amen.
Action
Learn about tuberculosis — how it spreads, who it affects, and why it persists — using the WHO and local health resources below.
Advocate for public policies that expand access to healthcare, sanitation, and housing — the conditions that allow TB to flourish are the same ones that demand our attention as people committed to justice.
Support organizations funding TB research and treatment access worldwide.
Check in locally — Snohomish County Health Department has resources on TB in our region.
Read — for a rich, accessible deep dive, consider John Green's Everything is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection.
