WHO Claims Deaths Due To Tuberculosis Shoot Up For the First Time in More Than 10 Years Due To COVID19 Crisis

Kathleen Kinder
Kathleen Kinder

Updated · Oct 21, 2021

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The Global TB Report 2021 that has been done by the World Health Organization (WHO) has shown that years of progress in the care and prevention of tuberculosis (TB) has been hampered by the COVID19 pandemic. The report has shown that deaths that have taken place due to TB have shot up enormously for the first time in more than 10 years. Experts who have been involved in the report have claimed that a large number of people have lost their lives due to TB as fewer people have received a timely diagnosis and TB preventive treatment in 2020 as compared to 2019. They have said that overall expenditure on essential TB services has been decreasing. Health officials from the WHO have said that disruption in the accessibility of TB services and declines in resources have been the first challenge. As per the report, human, financial, and other resources have been transferred from tacking tuberculosis to the COVID19 response task force in many countries that has limited access to critical TB services. The second challenge has been that people have found it hard to seek care during the lockdowns that have been imposed by the authorities during the COVID19 pandemic. The head of the WHO, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus is worried that the commotion of essential TB services due to the pandemic might start to unravel years of efforts in the fight against tuberculosis. The findings of the report are alarming and must act as a global wake-up call to the vital need for revenue and advancement to bridge the gaps in diagnosis, prevention, and care for the millions of people who are suffering from this old but curable disease. Many essential services for other diseases as well have been disrupted due to the COVID19 pandemic last year but the effect on TB has been harsh.

The authors of the report have said that nearly 1.5 million people have lost their lives due to TB last year. They have said that the rise in the number of deaths due to TB has taken place in 30 countries that have been dealing with the highest load of TB. Model projections designed by the WHO have shown that the number of people losing their lives due to TB and the number of people being diagnosed with the disease will rise further in 2021 and 2022. Disruption in access to essential TB services means that many people have not been diagnosed with the disease last year. The reported number of people who have newly been detected with TB has dropped from 7.1 million in 2019 to 5.8 million in 2020. As per the WHO, nearly 4.1 million people are dealing with TB across the world who have not been diagnosed or have not been reported to national governments. In 2019, this figure has been 2.9 million. From 2019 to 2020, some of the countries have accounted for most of the global decline in TB notifications such as India, Indonesia, the Philippines, and China. Experts have said that these nations along with 12 other countries have majorly contributed to 93 percent of the global decline in TB reporting. India, Indonesia, the Philippines, and China have contributed to 41 percent, 14 percent, 12 percent, and 8 percent decline in the TB reporting respectively. The global TB report has shown a decline in the provision of TB preventive care as well. Experts have said that only 2.8 million have been able to avail the treatment in 2020 that is nearly a 21 percent drop from 2019. The number of people who have been getting treatment for resistant TB well has dropped by 15 percent. The number of people receiving drug-resistant TB care has been around 177000 in 2019. However, it has come down to 155000 people in 2020.

Health experts have said that turnaround in the global TB efforts means that the global TB targets are not being achieved and it seems out of reach. The decline in deaths linked to TB across the world has been only 9.2 percent from 2015 to 2020 that has been only a quarter of the 2020 target. In the same period, the number of people falling sick due to TB across the world has reduced by 11 percent that is just little over half of the targets set for 2020. Nevertheless, the WHO European region has surpassed the 2020 milestone with a decline of 25 percent. It has been possible due to the decline in the Russian federation where cases of TB have dropped by 6 percent each year from 2010 to 2020. The WHO African Region has reached close to achieving the milestone with a decline of 19 percent. It shows impressive declines of 4 to 10 percent in cases in South Africa and many other South African nations. The head of the Global TB Initiative of the WHO, Dr. Tereza Kasaeva has said that only one year is left to achieve the notable 2022 TB targets that have been set by Heads of State at the first UN High Level Meet on Tuberculosis. Dr. Tereza Kasaeva has noted that the Global TB report has highlighted some major data and has given a reminder to nations to fast track their response to the disease and save the lives of their citizens. The findings of the report are crucial as experts prepare for the second UN High-Level Meet on TB that is scheduled to be held in 2023. Considering the findings of the report, countries need to restore the availability of critical TB services now. The findings of the report call for increasing the funds for TB research and intensive action across health care systems to identify social, ecological, economical factors of TB and other issues linked to the disease.

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Kathleen Kinder

Kathleen Kinder

With over 4 years of experience in the research industry, Kathleen is generally engrossed in market consulting projects, catering primarily to domains such as ICT, Health & Pharma, and packaging. She is highly proficient in managing both B2C and B2B projects, with an emphasis on consumer preference analysis, key executive interviews, etc. When Kathleen isn’t deconstructing market performance trajectories, she can be found hanging out with her pet cat ‘Sniffles’.