Increase in Tuberculosis Deaths During the COVID-19 Pandemic

According to the United Nations (UN) agency, the COVID-19 pandemic hampered global efforts to tackle TB. This disease could replace COVID-19 as the world's leading cause of death from a single infectious agent.
 

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WHO reported India, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Pakistan among the countries severely affected by TB. The agency called for applying what was learned from the pandemic to managing this infectious disease.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, "If the pandemic has taught us anything, it is that with solidarity, determination, innovation, and the equitable use of tools, we can overcome serious health threats."

1.6 million people died in 2021 from TB, according to WHO's an annual report on the disease. This figure exceeds the deaths recorded in 2021 and 2019 with 1.5 and 1.4 million, respectively. 

As part of WHO's strategy to fight the infectious disease, between 2015 and 2021, there was a 5.9 percent reduction in the number of deaths when the target set was a 35 percent reduction for the period 2015 to 2020. 

With 10.6 million people infected with TB last year, WHO recorded a 4.5 percent increase over 2020.  

According to a Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria report, there is still a long way to go, as the world is not yet on track to defeat these deadly diseases.