That is one of the main reasons why World TB Day on March 24 was once again marked by varied emotions: a mixture of pride at progress to date and concern at the continuing devastation wrought by a disease we once thought had been controlled.

The main goal of World TB Day is simple: to build public awareness that tuberculosis remains a lethal global epidemic, but which can be diagnosed and cured – and could one day be eliminated.

The date marks the anniversary of the day in 1882 when Robert Koch announced his discovery of the cause of tuberculosis, the TB bacillus. At that time, TB was raging through Europe and the Americas, killing one person in seven. Today, it can be not only diagnosed, but cured – and the vision of a TB-free world, while distant, is far from an impossible dream.