Political commitment will be key to eliminating tuberculosis as a public health challenge, says Austin Arinze Obiefuna September’s United Nations General Assembly has the potential to deliver historic progress in the drive to end tuberculosis (TB). For only the second time in the body’s history, the UN will convene presidents, prime ministers, and senior government officials for the purpose of mobilising a more urgent response to this devastating disease.1 Progress will flourish or falter depending on the support of these global leaders. The meeting comes at a critical time. After years of incremental declines in the number of global TB deaths, the covid-19 pandemic caused mass disruptions to health systems and TB deaths climbed for the first time in over a decade,2 killing an estimated 1.6 million people in 2021.3 With the threat of covid-19 receding, TB is poised to again become the world’s leading cause of death from an infectious disease.3 Against this backdrop, the UN member state