World TB Day is an opportunity to raise awareness about the burden of tuberculosis worldwide and the status of TB prevention and control efforts. It is also an opportunity to mobilize political and social commitment for further progress.

To commemorate World TB Day 2013, The Lancet Infectious Diseases publishes a Series of papers on tuberculosis, a disease that has long plagued human beings and was declared a global emergency in 1993 by WHO. Without concerted action from political leaders, health policy makers, funders, and others, health systems worldwide are at risk of being overwhelmed by increasing numbers of patients with treatment-resistant tuberculosis.

Our work is focused on supporting the efforts of more than 1000 partners, so you won’t be surprised to hear that two of the things I value the most are shared ambition and shared commitment. As we come to the end of a busy week of events leading up to World TB Day, I’m pleased to say that both ambition and commitment have been in abundance.

The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee in his message on the occasion of World Tuberculosis Day, which is observed every year on March 24, has said:

HIV and TB co-infection makes up one-third of all TB-related deaths worldwide. TB is a growing threat to people who use drugs, particularly when set against the backdrop of high vulnerability to, and prevalence of, HIV.

The Financial Times has published a special report (.pdf), titled "Combating Tuberculosis 2013," as World TB Day on March 24 approaches. The following summaries briefly describe the articles in the series.

EMA's response to TB CAB letter regarding the filing of the drugs delamanid and bedaquiline for market approval.

The new FY 2011/12 Report to Congress on TB highlights key programmatic achievements and collaboration of the different U.S. Government agencies involved in global TB programs, bringing comparative expertise to address the many challenges of TB.

As many as 50,000 people die of tuberculosis annually in China, with about 1 million new cases reported each year, a health official said on Thursday.

With just 9,951 new cases of tuberculosis last year, the 2012 incidence reached an all-time low of 3.2 cases per 100,000 people, the CDC reported.