Tuberculosis Cases Hit Record High – WHO

A record 8.2 million new tuberculosis cases were diagnosed worldwide last year, the World Health Organization said — the highest number since it began global TB monitoring in 1995.

The WHO said its Global Tuberculosis Report 2024, released Tuesday, highlights “mixed progress in the global fight against TB, with persistent challenges such as significant underfunding”.

While the number of TB-related deaths declined from 1.32 million in 2022 to 1.25 million last year, the total number of people contracting the infectious disease increased from 7.5 million to 8.2 million.

However, not all new cases are diagnosed, and WHO estimates that around 10.8 million people actually contracted the disease last year.

“The fact that TB still kills and sickens so many people is an outrage, when we have the tools to prevent it, detect it and treat it,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement.

The disease disproportionately affects people in 30 high-burden countries.

And five countries — India, Indonesia, China, Philippines and Pakistan — account for more than half of the global TB burden, with more than a quarter of the cases found in India alone.