Tuberculosis remains a major public health challenge in the Eastern Mediterranean region, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. In 2023 alone, the region recorded 936,000 new TB cases and nearly 86,000 deaths. Every 34 seconds, someone falls ill with tuberculosis, and every six minutes, another life is lost. These deaths are avoidable because TB is a curable disease. In our region, treatment programmes have a success rate of over 90%, but 3 out of 10 cases remain undetected and untreated, less than half of new patients use rapid molecular tests that can detect resistance to antibiotics, and preventive treatment remains rare. All of this fuels transmission and impedes tuberculosis control.