Tuberculosis leading infectious killer, WHO warns amid funding shortage

​​​​​​​By Merve Aydogan

HAMILTON, Canada (AA) - The World Health Organization (WHO) released alarming new data Tuesday showing tuberculosis (TB) once again ranking as the world’s deadliest infectious disease.

According to the latest WHO report, approximately 8.2 million people were diagnosed with TB in 2023.

"This represents a notable increase from 7.5 million reported in 2022, placing TB again as the leading infectious disease killer in 2023, surpassing COVID-19," a statement by the organization noted.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, expressed "outrage "over the continued toll of the disease. "The fact that TB still kills and sickens so many people is an outrage, when we have the tools to prevent it, detect it, and treat it," he said.

He urged nations to fulfill their commitments to effectively combat TB.

The report highlights the alarming disparities, with 30 high-burden countries -- primarily India, Indonesia, China, the Philippines and Pakistan --accounting for 56% of the global TB burden.

It also emphasized funding a crisis for TB prevention, diagnosis and treatment, especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), which bear 98% of the global TB burden.

Noting that only 26% of the $22 billion target for annual global TB funding was reached in 2023, Tereza Kasaeva, director of WHO’s Global Tuberculosis Program, said: "We are confronted with formidable challenges: funding shortfalls, catastrophic costs to affected households, and drug-resistant tuberculosis."

While the report warned that treatment success rates for multidrug-resistant TB remain low, WHO urged the international community to fulfill their commitments from the 2023 UN High-Level Meeting on TB, with a renewed push for funding research into new TB vaccines.