At 26 per cent, India accounts for the highest global tuberculosis burden: WHO

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Even as India aims to end tuberculosis (TB) by 2025, five years ahead of the global target, a report published by the World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday showed that the country accounts for 26 per cent -- the highest -- global TB burden.

The Global Tuberculosis Report 2024 showed that India is the highest among the 30 high-burden countries -- Indonesia (10 per cent), China (6.8 per cent), the Philippines (6.8 per cent) and Pakistan (6.3 per cent) -- which together accounted for 56 per cent of the global TB burden.

Globally, TB again emerged as the leading infectious disease killer in 2023, surpassing Covid-19.

It showed that about 8.2 million people were newly diagnosed with TB in 2023 -- the highest number recorded since WHO began global TB monitoring in 1995.

This also represents a notable increase from 7.5 million reported in 2022.

The top infectious disease was found to be most common among men (55 per cent). Women accounted for more than 30 per cent, while 12 per cent were children and young adolescents.

"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," said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, in the report.

He called on countries to "make good on the concrete commitments they have made to expand the use of those tools, and to end TB".

Importantly, the report highlighted five major risk factors that are driving new TB cases. These include undernutrition, HIV infection, alcohol use disorders, smoking (especially among men), and diabetes.

"Tackling these issues, along with critical determinants like poverty and GDP per capita, requires coordinated multisectoral action," said the report, while calling for increased funding for TB research.

Meanwhile, the report noted a decline in the gap between the estimated number of new TB cases and those reported. It narrowed to about 2.7 million, down from Covid pandemic levels of around 4 million in 2020 and 2021.

While the coverage of TB preventive treatment has been sustained for people living with HIV, multidrug-resistant TB remains a public health crisis.

The report showed that 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, the report said.

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