The Berlin Declaration on tuberculosis and its consequences for TB research and control in the WHO-Euro region.

In his famous presentation 'Ueber Tuberculose', Robert Koch (1843-1910) changed the view on tuberculosis as disease, identified Mycobacterium tuberculosis as the etiologic agent and revolutionized the fight against infectious disease in diagnosis, therapy and prevention. Koch gave this presentation in Berlin on March 24, 1882 [1]. Exactly 100 years later, 1982, the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (IUATLD) proposed the 24th of March as 'World Tuberculosis Day'. Fourteen years later, in 1996, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed this day as the official day commemorating the disease and its victims, as well as the global endeavours to fight tuberculosis.