GENEVA — The number of people infected with tuberculosis, including the kind resistant to drugs, rose globally for the first time in years, according to a report Thursday by the World Health Organization.
The U.N. health agency said more than 10 million people worldwide were sickened by tuberculosis in 2021, a 4.5 percent rise from the year before. About 1.6 million people died, it said. WHO said about 450,000 cases involved people infected with drug-resistant TB, 3 percent more than in 2020.
Dr. Mel Spigelman, president of the nonprofit TB Alliance, said more than a decade of progress was lost when COVID-19 emerged in 2020.
“Despite gains in areas like preventative therapy, we are still behind in just about every pledge and goal regarding TB,” Spigelman said.
WHO also blamed COVID-19 for much of the rise in TB, saying the pandemic “continues to have a damaging impact on access to TB diagnosis and treatment.” It said progress made before 2019 has since “slowed, stalled or reversed.”
With fewer people being diagnosed with the highly infectious disease, more patients unknowingly spread tuberculosis to others in outbreaks that may not have been spotted in countries with weak health systems.
WHO reported that the number of people newly identified with TB fell from 7 million in 2019 to 5.8 million in 2020.
WHO also said COVID-19 restrictions, including lockdowns and physical distancing protocols, also hampered TB treatment services and may have prompted some people to skip going to health facilities for fear of catching coronavirus. Officials added that the downturn in the global economy was also a factor, saying that about half of all TB patients and their families face “catastrophic total costs” due to their treatment. WHO called for more countries to cover all TB diagnosis and treatment expenses.
After COVID-19, TB is the world’s deadliest infectious disease. It is caused by bacteria that typically affects the lungs. The germs are mostly spread from person to person in the air, such as when an infected individual coughs or sneezes.
TB mostly affects adults, particularly those who are malnourished or have other conditions like HIV; more than 95 percent of cases are in developing countries.
