TB deaths during pandemic reversed years of decline, WHO says
- WHO urges lessons learned from pandemic be applied to tuberculosis, which severely affects countries such as India, Indonesia, the Philippines and Pakistan
- WHO annual report also warns in the near future TB could replace Covid-19 to become the leading cause of death worldwide from a single infectious agent
Global deaths from tuberculosis are estimated to have increased between 2019 and 2021, reversing years of decline as the Covid-19 pandemic severely derailed efforts to tackle the disease, the World Health Organization said on Thursday.
Global efforts to tackle deadly diseases such as Aids, tuberculosis and malaria have suffered during the Covid-19 pandemic. The health crisis has particularly hit the response to TB and led countries to fall behind in meeting targets to curb the infectious disease.
WHO urged the world to apply lessons learned from the pandemic to tuberculosis, which severely affects countries such as India, Indonesia, the Philippines and Pakistan.
“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,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
WHO’s annual TB report estimates that tuberculosis killed 1.6 million people in 2021, above the estimated 1.5 million deaths in 2020, and 1.4 million deaths in 2019. Deaths related to tuberculosis had fallen between 2005 and 2019.
The report also warns that in the near future TB could replace Covid-19 to become the leading cause of death worldwide from a single infectious agent.