COVID-19 disruptions have reversed years of progress in tackling TB, with deaths rising to 1.5 million in 2020.
For the first time in over a decade, global deaths from tuberculosis (TB) have increased, a setback attributed to the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The World Health Organization (WHO) reported that 1.5 million people died from TB in 2020, up from 1.4 million in the previous year. The pandemic’s impact on testing and treatment services has also led to a decrease in new diagnoses, which fell from 7.1 million to 5.8 million. Additionally, preventative treatment access dropped by 21%, affecting 2.8 million people. WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus emphasized the need for urgent investments and innovations in TB diagnosis, treatment, and care to address this growing global health crisis.
