Tuberculosis deaths rise for the first time in more than a decade due to greed

The pandemic marked a setback in years of global progress in the fight against tuberculosis (TB) and, for the first time in more than a decade, deaths from this disease have increased, according to the report. World Health Organization 2021 Global TB Report published by the World Health Organization (who)

In 2020, more people died from tuberculosis – with fewer people diagnosed and treated or receiving preventive therapy for the disease – compared to 2019. Overall spending on essential services has also decreased.

According to the institution, this is mainly due to two reasons. The first is the access interruption to tuberculosis health services and resource reduction. In many countries, they were transferred to respond to covid-19, which limited the availability of essential services. The second reason was the difficulty in getting medical care due to blockages.

“This report confirms our fears that the disruption of essential health services due to the pandemic could begin to hamper years of progress against TB,” he said. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of WHO.

“This is alarming news that should serve as a global alert to the urgent need for investment and innovation to close the gap in diagnosis, treatment and care for millions of people affected by this ancient but preventable and treatable disease.” adds the expert.

Difficulties arising from the pandemic

Tuberculosis services are among the many that were disrupted by the covid-19 pandemic in 2020, but the impact of this disease has been especially serious. For example, approximately 1.5 million people died in 2020 (including 214,000 among those who were HIV positive).

The increase in the number of deaths occurred mainly in the 30 countries with the highest incidence of the disease. According to WHO projections, the number of people who develop this condition and die could be much bigger in 2021 and 2022.

In addition, the difficulties in providing and accessing essential services in the fight against tuberculosis have led to many people have not been diagnosed in 2020. In 2019, 7.1 million people were notified to national governments that they were diagnosed, while in 2020 that number had dropped to 5.8 million.

The organization estimates that some 4.1 million people They currently suffer from this disease, but they have not been evaluated by an expert or officially reported to national authorities. This number is up from 2.9 million in 2019.

The countries that contributed the most to the global reduction in TB notifications between 2019 and 2020 were India (41%), Indonesia (14%), Philippines (12 and China (8%). These and 12 other countries accounted for 93% of the total decline in the world. The provision of preventive treatment. About 2.8 million people accessed in 2020, a reduction of 21% compared to 2019.

The number of people treated by drug resistant tuberculosis It’s down 15%, from 177,000 in 2019 to 150,000 in 2020, which equates to only about 1 in 3 people who need it.

Global goals, far from being achieved

This pandemic setback means that global goals in the fight against this infectious disease, they seem increasingly unattainable. However, there are some successes. The reduction in the number of deaths from TB between 2015 and 2020 was 9.2%, or about a quarter of the way to the 35% target by 2020.

In addition, the number of people who fall ill each year worldwide (relative to population) fell by 11% between 2015 and 2020, just over half the 2020 milestone of 20%. Also, WHO European Region exceeded 2020 target, with a 25% reduction. This was mainly driven by the decline in Russia, where incidence fell by 6% a year between 2010 and 2020.

The report provides important data and a strong reminder to countries to urgently accelerate their responses to TB and save lives.

Tereza Kasaeva, Director of the Global Tuberculosis Program

Likewise, the Africa region WHO was close to reaching the target, falling 19%, reflecting impressive reductions of 4-10% a year in South Africa and several other southern African countries, following a peak in the HIV epidemic. HIV (HIV) and the expansion of prevention and care for tuberculosis and HIV.