WHO reports record increase in Tuberculosis cases, urges global action

GENEVA, SWITZERLAND: Tuberculosis (TB) replaced COVID-19 to become the top cause for infectious disease-related deaths in 2023, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) released its Global Tuberculosis Report 2024 published recently, revealing alarming data that approximately 8.2 million people were newly diagnosed with tuberculosis (TB) in 2023—the highest number recorded since WHO began global TB monitoring in 1995. This represents a significant rise from 7.5 million reported in 2022, reinstating TB as the leading infectious disease killer, surpassing COVID-19.
Despite a decline in TB-related deaths from 1.32 million in 2022 to 1.25 million in 2023, the total number of people falling ill with TB increased slightly to an estimated 10.8 million. The disease continues to disproportionately affect individuals in 30 high-burden countries, with India (26%), Indonesia (10%), China (6.8%), the Philippines (6.8%), and Pakistan (6.3%) collectively accounting for 56% of the global TB burden. The report also indicates that 55% of those diagnosed with TB were men, 33% were women, and 12% were children and young adolescents.
Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, emphasized the urgency of addressing the TB crisis: “The fact that TB still kills and sickens so many people is an outrage when we have the tools to prevent, detect, and treat it. WHO urges all countries to fulfill their commitments to expand the use of these tools and to end TB.”
The report highlights mixed progress in the fight against TB, with the gap between estimated new cases and reported cases narrowing to about 2.7 million in 2023, down from around 4 million during the COVID-19 pandemic. Efforts to recover from COVID-related disruptions have led to sustained improvements in TB preventive treatment, particularly for people living with HIV.
However, multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) remains a critical public health crisis, with treatment success rates at 68%. Of the estimated 400,000 individuals who developed MDR-TB, only 44% were diagnosed and treated in 2023.
Funding for TB prevention and care has decreased further in 2023, falling far below the required US$22 billion annual target. Low- and middle-income countries, which bear 98% of the TB burden, faced significant funding shortages, with only US$5.7 billion available this year.
The report also reveals that half of TB-affected households in low- and middle-income countries face catastrophic costs exceeding 20% of their annual income for diagnosis and treatment.
Dr. Tereza Kasaeva, Director of WHO’s Global Tuberculosis Programme, stated, “We are confronted with formidable challenges: funding shortfalls, climate change, conflict, and drug-resistant tuberculosis. It is imperative that we unite across all sectors to confront these pressing issues and ramp up our efforts.”
As global milestones for reducing the TB disease burden remain off-track, WHO calls on governments, global partners, and donors to urgently translate commitments made during the 2023 UN High-Level Meeting on TB into concrete actions. Increased funding for research, particularly for new TB vaccines, is essential to accelerate progress and achieve global targets set for 2027.