Cases are on a downward trajectory for the first time since the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic.
But a new report reveals that while progress has been made in the global fight against the disease, funding gaps put hard-won gains at risk.
Funding gap threatens progress
“The decline in the global burden of tuberculosis and advances in testing, treatment, social protection and research are good news. after years of setbacks, but progress is not a victory,” said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
“The fact that tuberculosis continues to claim more than a million lives each year, despite being preventable and curable, is simply unacceptable.”
The WHO says global funding for tuberculosis has stagnated since 2020, with just $5.9 billion available in 2024 (well below the annual target of $22 billion by 2027), raising concerns that The cuts could cause up to two million additional deaths and 10 million cases over the next decade..
Global decline
Between 2023 and 2024, the global rate of people falling ill with tuberculosis fell by almost two percent, while deaths fell by three percent.
“The number of people being tested and treated is increasing, and research is advancing,” Dr. Tedros said.
Since last year, more than half of the world’s population is covered by rapid tests54 percent up from 48 percent in 2023. Additionally, the treatment had a success rate of 88 percent, according to the report.
Some regions have been more successful than others in reducing the prevalence of tuberculosis.
Between 2015 and 2024, the WHO African region managed to reduce the indecency rate by 28 percent and deaths from the disease decreased by 46 percent.
He European Region There was a 39 percent drop in incidence and a 49 percent reduction in deaths.
However, in 2024, 87 percent of the global number of people who developed tuberculosis were concentrated in 30 countrieswhere social protection remains very unequal, according to the report.
