WHO reports record high tuberculosis incidence in 28 years

October 29, MINSK . Tuberculosis was diagnosed in 8.2 million people in 2023, which is 0.7 million more than the year before and is the highest figure since 1995, when the World HEALTH Organization (WHO) began global monitoring of its incidence. This is stated in the WHO report, TASS reports .

Compared to 2022, when 7.5 million new cases of the disease were identified worldwide, "in 2023, tuberculosis again became the leading infectious cause of death, displacing covid-19 from this position." Despite the fact that the number of tuberculosis-related deaths decreased from 1.32 million in 2022 to 1.25 million in 2023, "the total number of cases increased and amounted to an estimated 10.8 million."

The WHO has assessed the spread of drug-resistant tuberculosis in the world as a "crisis factor", also drawing attention to the decrease in funding for prevention and treatment of this disease. "With an annual funding target of $22 billion, only $5.7 billion was allocated in 2023, i.e. only 26% of the amount required globally," the report says.

WHO has identified five main factors that increase the risk of tuberculosis: malnutrition , HIV infection, ALCOHOL use disorders, smoking (especially among men) and diabetes. "Coordinated action with the participation of a wide range of sectors is required to address these factors, as well as such key determinants as poverty and GDP per capita," the organization noted.

Tuberculosis is a widespread infectious disease of humans and animals worldwide, caused by various types of mycobacteria from the Mycobacterium tuberculosis group, or Koch's bacillus. Tuberculosis usually affects the lungs, less often affecting other organs and systems. The disease is transmitted by airborne droplets when talking, coughing and sneezing of the patient and most often occurs in an asymptomatic form. Common symptoms of pulmonary tuberculosis arecough (sometimes with phlegm and blood), chest pain , weakness, weight loss, fever and night sweats.