The coronavirus pandemic has erased years of progress in tackling tuberculosis, leading to the first increase in deaths caused by the disease in more than a decade despite the number of registered cases decreasing, the World Health Organization has warned in a report.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO’s director-general, said the findings released by the health body on Thursday were “alarming”. He added that they should “serve as a global wake-up call to the urgent need for investments and innovation . . . in diagnosis, treatment and care” for the millions of people affected by the disease.
Tuberculosis is caused by bacteria that most frequently affects the lungs. It can spread by coughing. But it is both preventable and curable, with about 85 per cent of those who develop the disease successfully treated with a six-month drug regimen that also curtails the potential of onward transmission.