WHO says tuberculosis killed 1.23 million last year, while 8.3 million people were newly diagnosed
Tuberculosis remains the world’s leading infectious killer, claiming an estimated 1.23 million lives last year, the United Nations health organization said as it reported that Pakistan, among eight countries, accounted for two-thirds of global TB cases.
Deaths from TB fell by three percent from 2023, while cases fell by almost two percent, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in its annual overview.
It is estimated that 10.7 million people worldwide became ill with TB in 2024: 5.8 million men, 3.7 million women and 1.2 million children.
Tuberculosis, which is preventable and curable, is caused by bacteria that most commonly affect the lungs. It is spread through the air when people with TB cough, sneeze or spit.
Now, TB cases and deaths are both falling “for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic”, which disrupted services, said Tereza Kasaeva, head of the WHO division of HIV, TB, hepatitis and sexually transmitted infections.
“Funding cuts and persistent causes of the epidemic threaten to undo hard-won gains, but with political commitment, sustained investment and global solidarity, we can turn the tide and end this old killer once and for all,” she said.
Funding for the fight against tuberculosis has stagnated since 2020.
Last year, $5.9 billion was available for prevention, diagnosis and treatment — far short of the goal of $22 billion annually by 2027.
In 2024, eight countries accounted for two-thirds of global TB cases.
They were India (25 percent), Indonesia (10 percent), the Philippines (6.8 percent), China (6.5 percent), Pakistan (6.3 percent), Nigeria (4.8 percent), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (3.9 percent) and Bangladesh (3.6 percent).
The top five risk factors driving the epidemic are malnutrition, HIV infection, diabetes, smoking and alcohol abuse.
TB is the leading killer of people with HIV, with last year’s death toll at 150,000.
In 2024, 8.3 million people were newly diagnosed with TB and gained access to treatment. It is a record high, which the WHO attributed to reaching more of the people who fell ill with the disease.
Last year, the success rate for treatment rose from 68 percent to 71 percent. The WHO estimates that timely TB treatment has saved 83 million lives since 2000.
Vaccine research, AI tools
“Declines in the global burden of TB and advances in testing, treatment, social protection and research are all welcome news after years of setbacks, but progress is not victory,” said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
“The fact that TB continues to claim over a million lives each year, despite being preventable and curable, is simply unconscionable.”
As for the pipeline of TB tests, treatments and vaccines, as of August of this year, 63 diagnostic tests were in development and 29 drugs were in clinical trials.
About 18 candidate vaccines are being tested in humans, including six in Phase III — the final phase before regulatory approval.
The BCG vaccine has long been part of routine childhood vaccination programs in many countries. But despite TB’s devastating global impact, no new vaccines have been approved for over a century, and there are no vaccines for adults.
Peter Sands, head of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, said: “We now have shorter, more effective treatment regimens, improved prevention strategies and cutting-edge diagnostics, including AI-powered tools that can detect TB faster and more accurately than ever before,” he said.
“These innovations are transforming how we fight TB, especially in resource-limited settings.”
