World Health Organization (WHO) data has revealed that tuberculosis has officially overtaken COVID-19 to become the number one infectious disease killer globally.
The top health body has released figures showing that while the number of people who lost their lives to the disease in 2023 dropped compared to the previous year (from 1.25 million in 2023 to 1.32 million in 2022), annual infections increased to about 10.8 million . 2023.
In a report released Tuesday, WHO also revealed that last year alone, 8.5 million people were diagnosed with tuberculosis — the highest single-year figure since the organization began tracking infections in 1995.
These figures highlight the challenges in the global effort to eliminate the disease, which the report describes as a “distant goal.”
“The fact that TB still kills and sickens so many people is an outrage, when we have all the tools to prevent it, detect it and treat it,” WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters. There are tools.”
The UN agency says more progress and funding are needed to achieve key milestones to reduce the burden the disease places on the health systems of countries around the world.
Middle- and low-income countries are currently dealing with the highest burden of tuberculosis, about 98 percent, and are in desperate need of funding.
In 2023, the gap between the projected number of new tuberculosis cases and reported cases narrows to about 2.7 million, down from the COVID-19 pandemic level of about 4 million in 2020 and 2021.