Deaths from tuberculosis rose in 2020: WHO

Deaths from tuberculosis, the world’s biggest infectious disease killer until the Covid-19 pandemic, have increased for the first time in more than a decade, totaling more than 1.5 million people in 2020. That trend is expected to worsen in 2021 and 2022, according to a report released by the World Health Organization.

The report confirmed the warnings from the WHO and other global health organisations that the Covid-19 pandemic would reverse years of progress against other infectious diseases, including TB, HIV and malaria.

“This is alarming news that must serve as a global wake-up call to the urgent need for investments and innovation to close the gaps in diagnosis, treatment and care for the millions of people affected by this ancient but preventable and treatable disease,” Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO’s director general, said in a statement.

In many poor countries, health care workers, funds and testing equipment that would normally be dedicated to TB were redirected to cope with Covid-19, according to the WHO report. Lockdowns and disruptions in supply chains also interrupted access to treatment and care.