WHO: population with tuberculosis reduced to about 3 million in 2022

The global fight against tuberculosisseverely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, is beginning to recover but remains far from its goal, according to a report from the World Health Organization (WHO).

During the first two years of the pandemic, there were around four million tuberculosis patients “disappeared” per year, that is, people who developed the disease but were not diagnosed or treated.

According to estimates in the UN agency’s annual report, that gap was reduced to about 3.1 million in 2022, returning to the pre-pandemic level of 2019.

However, a lack of funding and attention continues to hamper efforts to end what has been described as “pandemic of the poor.” Tuberculosis, an infectious disease that usually attacks the lungs, is preventable and curable.

An estimated 10.6 million people will fall ill with tuberculosis in 2022, up from 10.3 million the previous year. However, 7.5 million were diagnosed – meaning they were able to access adequate treatment – the highest number since monitoring began in 1995, according to the WHO.

Tuberculosis-related deaths also decreased slightly – from 1.4 million in 2021 to .3 million in 2022 -, remaining just behind COVID-19 as the world’s deadliest infectious disease, with India, Indonesia and the Philippines especially affected.

The multidrug-resistant form of the disease also remains a major public health threat, according to the WHO, with only two in five people able to get the treatment they need.

However, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said there is hope after years of suffering, with advances in diagnostics, medicines and the first new vaccine in 100 years in the final phase of testing.

“We have the opportunity to write the final chapter in the history of tuberculosis,” he stated in an emailed statement.

Source: Reuters