WHO reveals tuberculosis deaths rose due to COVID-19 disruption

28 Oct 2022
www.pmlive.com
The number of estimated deaths from tuberculosis (TB) increased between 2020 and 2021 as the COVID-19 pandemic reversed decades of progress in the fight against the disease, according to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Global TB report 2022 . TB services are among many others disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but its impact on the TB response has been particularly severe, WHO said in a statement. The figures show an estimated 10.6 million were infected with TB in 2021, an increase of 4.5% from 2020, and 1.6 million people died from the disease. WHO also reported that the burden of drug-resistant TB increased by 3% between 2020 and 2021, with 450,000 new cases of rifampicin-resistant TB in 2021. This is the first time in many years an increase has been reported in the number of people falling ill with TB and drug resistant TB. “The report provides important new evidence and makes a strong case on the need to join forces and urgently redouble efforts to get the TB response back-on-track to reach TB targets and save lives,” said Dr Tereza Kasaeva, director of WHO’s Global TB Programme. Continued challenges with providing and accessing essential TB services have meant that many people with TB were not diagnosed and treated, WHO said. The reported number of people newly diagnosed with TB fell from 7.1 million in 2019 to 5.8 million in 2020. There was a partial recovery to 6.4 million in 2021, but this was still well below pre-pandemic levels. These reductions in the reported number of diagnosed TB cases suggest that the number of people with undiagnosed and untreated TB has grown. The report also notes a decline in global spending on essential TB services from $6bn in 2019 to $5.4bn in 2021, which is less than half of the global target of $13bn annually by 2022. Urging the world to apply lessons learnt from the pandemic to tuberculosis, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general, said: “If the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that with solidarity, determination, innovation and the equitable use of tools, we can overcome severe health threats. Let’s apply those lessons to tuberculosis. It is time to put a stop to this long-time killer. Working together, we can end TB.”
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