Introduction: tuberculosis is an infectious disease that has caused lots of suffering to human beings for several centuries. Today, it is still a serious public health issue considering the high morbidity and mortality rates caused by such disease with a very slow downward trend. Also, it represents a serious issue considering that health professionals lack training, and the administrative deficiency. Objective :inform, particularly young readers, on the most important changes to the control schedules in the past fifty years, which have been accepted by the Ministries of Health constituting the World Health Assembly and also by the World Health Organization, as a result of scientific researches that showed the need and advisability of such changes. Conclusion: very important changes have been made in the tuberculosis diagnosis going from the radiological diagnosis to the bacteriological diagnosis; in prevention, through the verification of the effectiveness of the BCG vaccine and its broad use; in case research going from the radiological search to the microscopy of direct smears for acid-fast bacilli and bacterial culture in respiratory symptomatic subjects; and in treatment, by going from the specialized hospitals and community clinics to out-patient treatments provided by the general health services. In order for such changes to be effective, the staff needs to be trained and supervision has to be very careful.