WHO releases Global TB Report 2021
- The World Health Organization (WHO) has released its annual Global tuberculosis (TB) report for the year 2021, on October 14, 2021.
- The annual report provides a comprehensive and up-to-date assessment of the TB epidemic, including progress in prevention, diagnosis and treatment of the disease, at global, regional and country levels.
Key findings of 2021 Global TB Report
- Number of people dying from TB increased in 2020, as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- India is among the top 30 countries with the highest TB burden.
- Very few people were diagnosed, treated or provided with TB preventive treatment in 2020 compared with 2019,(7.1 million in 2019 while only 5.8 million in 2020)
- Overall spending on essential TB services went down.
- India (41%) placed on list of countries that contributed highest in reduction in TB notifications between 2019 and 2020. Indonesia (14 per cent), the Philippines (12 per cent) and China (8 per cent).
- Report noted that around 4.1 million people suffer from TB, but the disease is either not diagnosed or their status has not been reported to national authorities. This is up from 2.9 million in 2019.
- TB is the second deadliest infectious killer after COVID-19. New cases of TB are attributable to undernutrition, HIV infection, alcohol use disorders, smoking and diabetes.
- TB is caused by the bacteria Mycobacterium tuberculosis.