The highest number of tuberculosis (TB) cases since global monitoring began were recorded in 2023, according to a report published by the World Health Organization (WHO).
TB is an infectious disease caused by bacteria. It mostly affects the lungs and is spread through the air through coughing, sneezing and saliva. The infection is preventable and usually curable with antibiotics. If treated, most patients will survive.
Despite this, a total of 1.25 million people died from TB in 2023, including 161 000 people with HIV. The WHO report estimates that TB has likely returned to being the world’s leading cause of death from a single infectious agent, following three years in which it was replaced by COVID-19.
Rein Houben, Professor of infectious Disease Epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), is leading on work which looks to understand how important asymptomatic TB is in onwards transmission. The work of his team, alongside global collaborators, feeds into WHO’s activities in TB care and monitoring around the world.
Rein said: “Tuberculosis has been and remains an enormous problem, and this WHO announcement brings attention to just how big a challenge we face, and the opportunities we need to take.
“There are two clear messages here. More people than ever got diagnosed and treated for TB, which is good. But this is matched by more people getting TB, which is a major problem.
“Every year an estimated 10 million families have to deal with TB, with all the costs