8.2m newly diagnosed with TB in 2023: WHO

Approximately 8.2 million people were newly diagnosed with tuberculosis (TB) in 2023 - the highest number recorded since the WHO began global TB monitoring in 1995.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has recently published a report, revealing this information.

This represents a notable increase from 7.5 million reported in 2022, placing TB again as the leading infectious disease killer in 2023, surpassing Covid-19.

The burden countries accounted for 87 per cent of all estimated incident cases worldwide with eight of these countries accounting for more than two thirds of the global total: India (26 per cent), Indonesia (10 per cent), China (6.8 per cent), the Philippines (6.8 per cent), Pakistan (6.3 per cent), Nigeria (4.6 per cent), Bangladesh (3.5 per cent) and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (3.1 per cent).

The top five countries accounted for 56 per cent of the global total.

The number of the TB-related deaths decreased from 1.32 million in 2022 to 1.25 million in 2023. The total number of people falling ill with TB rose slightly to an estimated 10.8 million in 2023.

According to the report, 55 per cent of people who developed TB were men, 33 per cent were women and 12 per cent were children and young adolescents.

Multidrug-resistant TB remains a public health crisis. Treatment success rates for multidrug-resistant or rifampicin-resistant TB (MDR/RR-TB) have now reached 68 per cent. But, of the 400,000 people estimated to have developed MDR/RR-TB, only 44 per cent were diagnosed and treated in 2023.

Global funding for TB prevention and care decreased further in 2023 and remains far below target.

Low-and middle-income countries (LMICs), which bear 98 per cent of the TB burden, faced significant funding shortages.

Only $5.7 billion of the $22 billion annual funding target was available in 2023, equivalent to only 26 per cent of the global target.

On the occasion of One Health Day on November 4, G20 ministers support for the WHO's investment round.

One Health is an approach to optimise the health of humans, animals and ecosystems by integrating these fields, rather than keeping them separate, according to the WHO.

Ministers of health have expressed their support for the WHO's investment round during a G20 meeting chaired by Brazil held in Rio de Janeiro.

For the first time, the report provides estimates on the percentage of TB-affected households that face catastrophic costs (exceeding 20 per cent of annual household income) to access TB diagnosis and treatment in all LMICs.

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