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Watch TB patient stories
As we commemorate World Tuberculosis Day 2025 under the theme "Yes! We Can End TB: Commit, Invest, Deliver," it's crucial to remember that behind every statistic is a human story. The fight against TB is not just about numbers; it's about people - their struggles, resilience, and triumphs.
To bring this reality to life, we're honored to share three powerful patient stories that embody the spirit of this year's theme. These individuals - Kelly, Taylor, and Khayr - have not only battled TB but have also committed themselves to educating others, invested their time and energy in advocacy, and continue to deliver hope to those affected by this disease.
Their experiences highlight the importance of early detection, proper treatment, and community support in overcoming TB. As you watch these videos, consider how each story reflects the urgent need for global commitment, investment, and action in our collective efforts to end TB. Let their stories inspire us all to redouble our efforts in the mission to create a TB-free world.
Kelly
Kelly is a physician and has treated patients with TB. Being a TB patient, however, was new territory for him. One of the most difficult parts of the process was the impact on his family, friends and patients, who were forced to endure months of treatment due to their contact with him. He now brings a new understanding to his practice and works tirelessly to educate others, especially those in the healthcare community.
Taylor
Taylor is a community health worker. Originally from the Philippines, Taylor had latent tuberculosis (LTBI) and then contracted HIV. This caused her LTBI to become active, and she became very sick. After undergoing many months of treatment, Taylor recovered from TB and now works to educate others, particularly those in the LGBTQ community.
Kahyr
Khayr is a North Dakota resident and a successful hotel manager. He spent time living in Somalia as a college student, where he likely contracted multidrug-resistant (MDR) TB. Khayr was told that his chance of survival was 50%. After a long battle, he recovered and now works with We are TB, the survivor advocacy organization.
Hear from our experts
For World TB Day, we asked our experts: 'what's the most impactful action we can take today to accelerate the end of TB?'
"To accelerate the end of TB, we must focus on immediate case identification and treatment, robust contact screening, enhance detection of latent tuberculosis infection through specific advanced diagnostic tools. especially in high-risk and immunocompromised populations. With this multi-prong approach, we can break the cycle of TB transmission and move closer to global TB elimination"
Juzar Ali
MD, Professor (Emeritus) of Medicine at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center
"The biggest challenge is convincing healthcare providers of the necessity of testing. Especially in patients with HIV or under immunosuppressive therapy, who are at high risk of developing active TB, early detection is key: If you can diagnose and treat LTBI before progressing into active disease, it's much easier, especially if you're comparing it to treating extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis. Early detection and intervention are key to preventing active TB disease and ultimately accelerate the end of TB."
Dr Martin Obermeier
Lab Manager at the Medical Centre for Infectious Diseases in Berlin (MIB)
"TB is widespread in our country, affecting both urban and rural areas. Early detection of all forms of TB is crucial for controlling its spread. Identifying latent TB is essential, as many are unaware, they have it. Diagnosing extra-pulmonary TB, often missed by conventional methods, is critical. We've seen many unexpected cases linked to it. Comorbidities like diabetes or HIV complicate TB cases and require immediate identification. This World TB Day, I hope decision-makers will prioritize early detection and broader use of diagnostic tools to help end TB."
Dr Juliani Dewi, SpPK
Clinical Pathologist Lab Director, Rampal Diagnostika, Indonesia
References
- Global tuberculosis report 2024. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2023. Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO.
- World Health Organization. The End TB Strategy. Geneva; 2014. https://www.who.int/teams/global-tuberculosisprogramme/theend-tb-strategy. Accessed: 2-AUG-23
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