World Tuberculosis Day 2022: Mandela, Amitabh Bachchan and other famous people who battled the disease

World TB Day 2022: In 2017, Amitabh Bachchan had been appointed the brand ambassador of the Centre's anti-tuberculosis campaign.

World Tuberculosis Day on March 24 aims to create awareness about the infectious disease and amplify efforts to fight the global TB pandemic

“TB remains one of the world’s deadliest infectious killers,” according to the World Health Organization. “Each day, over 4100 people lose their lives to TB and close to 28,000 people fall ill with this preventable and curable disease.”

For 2022, the theme of World Tuberculosis Day is  "Invest to End TB. Save Lives". India has pledged to be TB-free by 2025.

To mark World Tuberculosis Day, take a look at the famous people who battled the disease:

Nelson Mandela

(Image credit: www.un.org)

Nelson Mandela, South Africa’s former president and anti-apartheid icon, contracted tuberculosis in jail in 1988. “He’s very thin” his lawyer had been quoted as saying by LA Times. “He’s on his feet, but very suddenly he looks very old.”

Eleanor Roosevelt

(Image credit: AFP)

American diplomat and activist Eleanor Roosevelt, who was married to former United States President Franklin D Roosevelt, reportedly died of tuberculosis, anaemia and heart failure in 1962.

Ringo Starr

(Image credit: AFP)

The Beatles drummer Ringo Starr had contracted tuberculosis in his childhood. He spent nearly a year in a hospital, according to a report in Express.co.uk.

Starr's developed a fear of hospitals, which emerged again when the coronavirus pandemic began in 2020.

"I don’t dwell on it or live with that fear, but I suppose I’m like everyone else – we all think if we’re going to get [the virus], we’re going to get the death one," he was quoted as saying by the website. "I know people, and family members who had it, and it’s a very small portion where it’s the end, but in my head, that’s where it goes.”

Amitabh Bachchan

(Image credit: Reuters)

Indian megastar Amitabh Bachchan had said at an NDTV event in 2019 that he survived tuberculosis as well as  hepatitis B.

"Due to a bad blood infusion, 75 per cent of my liver was damaged," the iconic actor had said.  "I’m still surviving on 25 percent."

In 2017, the actor had been appointed the brand ambassador of the Centre's anti-tuberculosis campaign.