WHO Reports a Surge in Tuberculosis Deaths During Pandemic
by Naba Batool
SHARES
According to the latest reports from WHO, there has been an unprecedented rise in fatalities due to TB in recent years because of the COVID-19 pandemic which has reversed the years of a significant decline in this disease's aftereffects.
The efforts to tackle serious health problems such as AIDS, TB, and malaria suffered a severe and fatal blow during the pandemic. The countries that were making significant progress in tackling this disease are not able to meet their targets as their energies and health strategies are now more covid-19 centric.
WHO is actively urging countries such as India, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Pakistan to take serious action against TB. WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that "If the pandemic has taught us anything, it's that with solidarity, determination, innovation, and the equitable use of tools, we can overcome severe health threats."
🆕 WHO 2022 Global TB report 🧵
For the first time in many years, an increase has been reported in the number of people falling ill with #tuberculosis (TB) and drug-resistant TB.
📌 https://t.co/AvVFJ6j1E5 pic.twitter.com/dPywHXZ6ND
— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) October 27, 2022
The annual report estimation of WHO clearly provides insight into the ongoing TB fiasco as TB accounts for 1.6 million deaths in 2021, 1.5 million deaths in 2020, and 1.4 million deaths in 2019. This is a clear indication that the situation is getting out of hand as the death rates because of TB had fallen between the years 2005 to 2019.
There are reports hinting at about 1.0.6 million active infections which signifies an increase of 4.5% from 2020.
WHO requests countries take active measures to combat or reduce this disease's impact because it is the need of the hour.
