Dhaka:  World Tuberculosis Day is being observed in the country as elsewhere across the globe on 24 March with a call to all to join the fight against the contagious disease.

The theme of the day this year is ‘Unite to End TB’.

On this day in 1882, Dr Robert Koch officially announced his discovery of the TB bacillus.

In 1982, on the 100th anniversary of Dr Koch’s announcement, WHO and IUATLD sponsored the first World TB Day to raise public awareness about tuberculosis and its prevention.

On the occasion, the government as well as NGOs organised various programmes like rally, seminar, workshop and discussion on tuberculosis, aiming to motivate the people to join the campaign against TB, reports UNB.