Xinhua News Agency, Geneva, March 24- March 24 is the World Day to Fight tuberculosis. On the same day, the World Health Organization released this year's propaganda theme on its official website: "Yes! We can end the epidemic of tuberculosis: commitment, investment, action", calling for practical action to end the epidemic of this preventable and curable disease. 鈥�

Tuberculosis is still one of the most deadly infectious diseases in the world. According to the official website of WHO, 3425 people die of tuberculosis and nearly 30000 people are infected with tuberculosis every day. Since 2000, the global efforts to fight tuberculosis have saved about 79 million lives. 鈥�

According to the World tuberculosis Report 2024 released by WHO, more than 8.2 million tuberculosis patients worldwide will receive diagnosis and treatment services in 2023, up from 7.5 million in 2022, far more than 5.8 million in 2020 and 6.4 million in 2021. However, there is still a huge gap between the global estimates of tuberculosis patients and the number of newly diagnosed cases. 鈥�

At the 2023 United Nations high-level meeting, leaders of all countries pledged to accelerate efforts to end the tuberculosis epidemic. The World Health Organization stated that practical actions are needed now, namely accelerating the implementation of WHO guidance and policies, strengthening national strategies, and providing sufficient funding. Without sufficient funds, tuberculosis cannot be defeated. Therefore, bold and diversified financing methods are needed to support innovation, narrow the gap in access to tuberculosis prevention and care services, and promote research and technological progress. 鈥�

However, WHO said that the current progress is not enough to achieve the global tuberculosis prevention and control goal set in 2018 due to factors such as continued conflict. The global tuberculosis prevention and control goals set by WHO in 2018 include reducing tuberculosis mortality by 90% and incidence rate by 80% by 2030 compared with the level in 2015. 鈥�