No More Excuses: Break the Chain of Transmission to End TB – World TB Day 2025

Respiratory societies urge prioritization of TB detection and treatment in high-burden areas

March 24, 2025

Glenview, IL – On World TB Day 2025, the Forum of International Respiratory Societies (FIRS), cofounded by the American College of Chest Physicians (CHEST), urges all stakeholders—governments, agencies, nongovernmental organizations, academics, civil society, and donors—to focus on evidence-based policies and programs that will break the chain of transmission to end the spread of TB in high-burden settings.

Cassandra Kelly-Cirino, PhD, Executive Director of the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union), a FIRS member, says, “We must be brave and recognize that our current approach is not going to achieve our goals—ending TB by 2030 or 2035. It is total injustice and failure by us all that millions of people around the world are still at a high risk of TB. There are simply no more excuses for this inequity and suffering from this ancient and preventable disease.”

According to the World Health Organization’s latest Global TB Report:

• In 2023, an estimated 10.8 million people fell ill with TB, and there were an estimated 1.25 million deaths worldwide.
• Between 2020 and 2023, the TB incidence rate (new cases per 100,000 population per year) is estimated to have increased by 4.6%, reversing declines of about 2% per year between 2010 and 2020.
• Approximately 2.7 million people were undiagnosed with the disease or not officially reported to national authorities in 2023.

“While many people in high-income countries believe TB is a disease of the past (because it generally is, in their countries), it is very much present and impacting lives in most countries of the world. It is an ancient disease that thrives on the kind of instability we are currently seeing due to conflict, political uncertainty, and climate change,” Kelly-Cirino continues. “TB is an airborne infectious disease that does not respect borders. We all must play our part in eradicating TB in high-burden settings. TB anywhere is TB everywhere.”

The current difficult funding and geopolitical landscape requires the prioritization of interventions that will have the most impact on reducing TB incidence rates (ie, the rate of new TB infections). These interventions already exist—community-wide active case finding linked to effective treatment of people who have TB.

Professor Guy Marks, President of FIRS and The Union, says, “In high-burden settings, we must prioritize finding and treating everyone with TB. This is the only way to stop more people from being exposed, becoming infected, and infecting others. This is how we break the chain of transmission and end TB once and for all. The effectiveness of this approach to end TB was proven during the latter half of the 20th century in several countries in Europe, North America, East Asia, and Oceania, as well as Cuba.”

There is no ignoring the devastating impact the US government’s decision to cut funding is having on global health and the most vulnerable people in our communities.

About the American College of Chest Physicians
The American College of Chest Physicians^®(CHEST) is the global leader in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of chest diseases. Its mission is to champion the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of chest diseases through education, communication, and research. It serves as an essential connection to clinical knowledge and resources for its 22,000+ members from around the world who provide patient care in pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medicine. For information about the American College of Chest Physicians, and its family of journals, including the flagship journal CHEST^®, visit chestnet.org.

About the Forum of International Respiratory Societies
The Forum of International Respiratory Societies (FIRS) is an organization comprised of the world's leading international respiratory societies working together to improve lung health globally. The goal of FIRS is to unify and enhance efforts to improve lung health through the combined work of its more than 70,000 members globally.

FIRS comprises the American College of Chest Physicians (CHEST), American Thoracic Society (ATS), the Asian Pacific Society of Respirology (APSR), Asociación Latinoamericana de Tórax (ALAT), European Respiratory Society (ERS), International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union), Pan African Thoracic Society (PATS), the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA), and the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD).