WHO raises the alarm: 27 countries before the collapse in the fight against TB!

WHO raises the alarm: 27 countries before the collapse in the fight against TB!

27 Ländern, Welt - The World Health Organization (WHO) raises the alarm: Around 1.5 million people die from tuberculosis (TBC) every year. This increase in new cases, which rose to around 10.6 million cases in 2022, is attributed to the effects of Corona pandemic and various armed conflicts that significantly impair resources for tuberculosis supply. In comparison, the WHO in 2021 still recorded 10.3 million new diseases, while in 2020 it was around 10 million. This worrying situation requires urgent measures to achieve the goals of the WHO, in particular the "End-TB strategy", which strives for a reduction in deaths by 75 % by 2025

The impending decline in TBC fighting in the poorest countries is particularly alarming, which could be reflected in a collapse of the TBC programs in 27 countries, as [OE24] reports. This would lead to fewer tests and restricted monitoring of the spread. Some states, such as the United States, have frozen billions of dollars on aid, while Great Britain and Germany are planning savings in development aid until 2024 and 2025. Currently only 25 % of the necessary funds of around $ 22 billion are available.

Current challenges in tuberculosis control

The WHO emphasizes that TBC pathogens spread through air particles of infected people. At the moment, a quarter of the world population is infected with the TBC pathogen, although most of them do not show any symptoms and are therefore not contagious. Only about five percent of the infected people develop an active form of the disease. In addition, nine countries already have difficulty procuring the medication required, which further exacerbates the situation.

A positive development is that around 79 million lives have been saved by early diagnoses and effective treatments. However, a look at the current statistics of the annual TBC report of [DZK-tuberculosis] from November 2023 shows that there was a decline in the number of stars of deaths. The estimated deaths of tuberculosis fell to around 1.3 million in 2022, which corresponds to 100,000 fewer than in previous years. Nevertheless, the mortality has been decreased by around 19 % worldwide since 2015, and the objective of the WHO requires continuing commitment to combating TBC.