Details
Context
In the Region of the Americas, an estimated 350,000 people fell ill with TB and about 30,000 died from the disease in 2024. Among these deaths, 29% were attributed to TB/HIV coinfection. The estimated TB incidence and mortality rates are stabilizing, and the number of people diagnosed and treated continues to increase. This reflects the efforts of countries in recent years to incorporate new technologies such as CAD-assisted digital radiology, the expanded use of rapid molecular tests for diagnosis, and shorter therapeutic regimens for treatment. These improvements have increased access to diagnosis and treatment; however, 77,000 people with TB were not diagnosed in 2024.
The social determinants of health related to TB—such as poverty, social exclusion, malnutrition, comorbidities, discrimination, and stigma—remain the main drivers of the epidemic in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Primary Health Care (PHC) plays a fundamental role as the backbone of a comprehensive response to TB by facilitating early detection, timely diagnosis, treatment initiation and follow-up, as well as engagement with communities and other sectors. Strengthening the integration of TB into PHC is key to ensuring people-centered care, reducing access barriers, and making sustained progress toward eliminating this disease. TB services integrated at the primary care level must be accessible, affordable, stigma-free, and people-oriented.
In this context, World Tuberculosis Day 2026 reinforces the urgency of accelerating efforts to end this disease. This year’s theme, “We can end tuberculosis: driven by Primary Health Care strengthened by innovation, and with committed health workers and communities,” highlights the need for sustained commitment, national leadership, adequate investment, and active community participation.
Through a comprehensive, people-centered approach based on Primary Health Care, it will be possible to advance equitably and sustainably toward eliminating tuberculosis in the Region of the Americas.
Agenda
10:00 a.m. - 10:05 a.m.
Welcome
Pedro Avedillo, Advisor, Tuberculosis Prevention, Control and Elimination, PAHO
10:05 a.m. - 10:10 a.m.
Launch of World Tuberculosis Day
Dr. Jarbas Barbosa, Director PAHO
10:10 a.m. - 10:20 a.m.
Progress in the Americas toward TB elimination
Monica Alonso, Unit Chief, HIV/STI/Viral Hepatitis/Tuberculosis, PAHO
10:20 a.m. - 11:15 a.m.
Panel: Primary Health Care and TB Elimination
• How can the first level of the SUS drive TB elimination?
Ministry of Health of Brazil
• Experience integrating TB into PHC in the state of Rio de Janeiro
Dr. Claudia Mello, Secretary of Health of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
• Innovations in the first level of care in Peru
Ministry of Health, Peru
• Integration of TB into PHC and its impact on treatment outcomes in Honduras
Ministry of Health, Honduras
• What is the role of PHC in the TB elimination plan in Costa Rica?
Ministry of Health, Costa Rica
11:15 a.m. - 11:25 a.m.
• Strategic priorities of the Parliamentary Front to accelerate TB elimination
Dr. Luis Gallo, Co-president, TB Parliamentary Front of the Americas
• Community perspectives on the TB response
TBD
11:25 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
Closing Remarks