WHO names Pakistan among five high-burden countries as TB resurgence

• “Tuberculosis remains a global health threat,” says the WHO director-general.
• Newly diagnosed cases rise to 8.2 million in 2023, WHO reports.
• In 2023, only 44% of MDR/RR-TB cases were diagnosed and treated.

Islamabad: The World Health Organization (WHO) has named Pakistan as one of the top five high-burden countries where tuberculosis (TB) cases are set to reach a record high in 2023. The News reported on Wednesday.

According to the World Health Organization, the country – along with India, Indonesia, China and the Philippines – accounted for more than half of the 10.8 million cases of the disease worldwide, highlighting an ongoing public health challenge despite the availability of treatment and prevention tools.

The WHO’s Global Tuberculosis Report 2024 said newly diagnosed TB cases rose to 8.2 million in 2023, up from 7.5 million in 2022 — the highest number since global surveillance began in 1995.

Tuberculosis claimed 1.25 million lives, making it the leading infectious disease killer in 2023 and overtaking COVID-19.

“TB remains a global health threat, particularly in high-burden countries like Pakistan,” said WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “We urge all nations to fulfill their commitments to expand tools for TB prevention, detection and treatment to end TB once and for all,” said the DG.

While TB-related deaths have seen a modest decline – from 1.32 million in 2022, the disease continues to spread rapidly in resource-limited settings, with high malnutrition, diabetes, smoking and HIV infection at work as major risk factors. Almost 56% of the global burden of TB in 2023 was concentrated in Pakistan and neighboring high-burden countries.

Further complicating TB eradication is the increasing incidence of multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB), a severe form that resists common therapies and is closely associated with antimicrobial resistance.

In 2023, only 44% of MDR/RR-TB cases were diagnosed and treated, with a treatment success rate of 68%, indicating the challenges health systems face in monitoring and managing this resistant strain.

Despite national and international efforts to address TB, funding gaps persist. In 2023, low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) required $22 billion to effectively fight TB, but managed to secure only $5.7 billion (26% of this target). The WHO report highlights that a significant number of TB-affected households face catastrophic costs, exceeding 20% ​​of their annual income, to access necessary TB care and treatment.

Dr Tereza Kasaeva, Director of WHO’s Global Tuberculosis Programme, called for urgent, multisectoral action, stressing that “funding shortfalls, financial burdens on patients, conflict, climate change and drug-resistant strains are impeding progress in tuberculosis control”.

Tackling TB, he noted, requires concerted efforts to address these barriers, as well as increased funding and research into diagnostics, treatments and vaccine development.

The WHO push for TB vaccine research highlights the unmet need, with only 20% of the $5 billion annual target for TB research having been met by 2022. The TB Vaccine Accelerator Council is actively working to advance this of the agenda.

WHO is also calling for action on the commitments made at the 2023 UN High-Level Summit on TB, urging governments, donors and global partners to turn commitments into effective strategies.

The targets set for 2027 remain off track, with further progress needed to reduce TB cases and deaths worldwide.

Dr. Gebreges stressed that the fight against TB requires immediate, coordinated efforts to achieve global milestones and ensure effective, accessible TB care to those most in need.