Tuberculosis once again becomes the world’s leading infectious killer

The World Health Organization ‘s “2024 Global Tuberculosis Report” released on Tuesday showed that in 2023, there were 8.2 million newly confirmed cases of tuberculosis worldwide, a record high since the WHO launched global tuberculosis monitoring in 1995, a significant increase from 7.5 million in 2022. This surge has once again made tuberculosis the number one infectious killer in 2023, and its impact has even surpassed the COVID-19 pandemic.

The report pointed out that although the number of tuberculosis-related deaths dropped from 1.32 million in 2022 to 1.25 million in 2023, the total number of patients climbed to about 10.8 million by 2023, highlighting the uneven progress in the fight against tuberculosis and the many challenges faced by the world, such as severe lack of funding.

The report shows that tuberculosis has a particularly severe impact on 30 high-burden countries around the world, of which India (26%), Indonesia (10%), China (6.8%), the Philippines (6.8%) and Pakistan (6.3%) together account for 56% of the global tuberculosis burden. In addition, male patients account for as high as 55%, women for 33%, and children and adolescents for 12%.

“It is outrageous that despite the availability of tools to prevent, detect and treat TB, TB continues to kill and sicken so many people,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, urging all countries to deliver on their commitments to scale up the use of these tools and end TB.

The gap between new TB cases and reported cases narrowed to about 2.7 million in 2023, thanks to global and national efforts to restore TB services related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, MDR-TB remains a public health crisis. Although treatment success for MDR-TB or Rifampicin-resistant TB has reached 68%, only 44% of the estimated 400,000 people with MDR-TB or Rifampicin-resistant TB will be diagnosed and receive treatment in 2023.

Funding gaps and challenges

In 2023, global funding for tuberculosis prevention and care fell further, far below the target level. Low- and middle-income countries bear 98% of the tuberculosis burden, but face a major funding gap. In 2023, the annual funding target is US$22 billion, but the actual available funds are only US$5.7 billion, accounting for only 26% of the target.

The report points out that although the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has played an indispensable role in international assistance for tuberculosis, its financial contributions still fail to fully meet the basic tuberculosis service needs. Sustained financial investment is essential for success in tuberculosis prevention, diagnosis and treatment.