WHO raises the alarm: 27 countries fight against TBC collapse!

WHO raises the alarm: 27 countries fight against TBC collapse!

The World Health Organization (WHO) raises the alarm: Around 1.5 million people die from tuberculosis (TBC), one of the most fatal infectious diseases in the world every year. The recently published report shows alarming developments in the global combat of the disease. According to oe24.at , around 79 million lives have been saved since 2000 and effective treatments. Nevertheless, there is a risk of a decline in TBC control, especially in the poorest countries in the world due to a drastic slump in development aid.

An example of this is the USA that have frozen billions of dollars on aid, while Great Britain and Germany are planning savings in development aid by 2025 and 2024. These measures influence the TBC programs in 27 countries where a collapse threatens. This would lead to fewer tests, less recognized cases and restricted monitoring of the disease, which more difficult to fight.

global TBC cases increase

In 2022, according to dzk-tuberkulose.de Increase is often associated with the effects of corona pandemic and regional conflicts that affect the resources for TBC prevention. The WHO report, published on November 7, 2023, emphasizes that the estimated number of deaths by TBC was 1.3 million in 2022, which means a slight decline compared to previous years.

The WHO aims to reduce the mortality by TBC by 75 % by 2025 as part of its “End-TB strategy”. Nevertheless, the health facility is worried, since only 25 % of the necessary funds, which corresponds to around 20 billion euros, was available to combat TBC in 2023. Nine countries also have difficulty procuring the necessary medication.

The challenge of fighting

The TBC pathog's transmission is transmitted by air particles that come from infected people. Although an estimated a quarter of the world's population is infected with the pathogen, most of them show no symptoms and are not transferable. Only about five percent of the infected people actively develop TBC, which can be curable with timely diagnosis and treatment.

The current developments illustrate urgent need for action. A united global effort to strengthen the resources for TBC control is essential so that the progress of recent years has not been lost and the ambitious goals of the WHO can be achieved. The report urgently demands that the priority of the tuberculosis coping again to the center of global health strategies.