Amsterdam, 24 March 2023 - World Tuberculosis Day is commemorated on March 24th every year, in honour of the day when Dr. Robert Koch discovered the bacteria that causes tuberculosis (TB) in 1882. The day serves as an opportunity to raise awareness about the disease and to emphasise the need for continued efforts to eradicate TB worldwide. TB is a contagious bacterial infection that affects the lungs but can also spread to other parts of the body. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), TB is one of the top 10 causes of death worldwide, and in 2020, an estimated 10 million people fell ill with TB globally. TB disproportionately affects low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), where the burden of the disease is highest and access to medication and diagnostics is often limited. Besides that, the COVID-19 pandemic caused a huge setback in progress towards ending TB, leaving millions of people undiagnosed and untreated.

IDA has been dedicated to eradication of TB

The past decades IDA has been working together with several partners to ensure the delivery of essential anti-TB medication to high-burden countries. We have built an extensive TB portfolio over the years and gathered much knowledge about the nature of the disease and how to build sustainable networks and infrastructure that help eradicate this disease globally. In the future, IDA Foundation remains dedicated to ensuring access to TB treatment regimens and other related products. As the available budget in LMICs for TB medicines is limited, the price of these products is often very high - making it inaccessible to most people. By carefully selecting our suppliers we aim for low prices to make sure these essential medicines are affordable for our customers, especially in high-burden countries.

Ensuring access to medication and diagnostics is critical to combat TB in LMICs. While there are many challenges achieving this goal, there are also many innovative solutions that can help. By working together and investing in these solutions, we can make progress towards ending TB worldwide.