The Global Impact of Tuberculosis: A Continuing Health Threat ( Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya ) Tuberculosis (TB) is a highly infectious diseas...
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| The Global Impact of Tuberculosis: A Continuing Health Threat (Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya) |
Tuberculosis (TB) is a highly infectious disease caused by bacteria that mostly affects the lungs. It is spread through the air when infected people cough, sneeze, or spit. TB is a global health threat that mostly affects adults in their most productive years, but all age groups are at risk. Over 80% of cases and deaths are in low- and middle-income countries[1]. In this article, we will discuss the global impact of tuberculosis, including its prevalence, mortality rate, and economic burden.
Prevalence of Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis occurs in every part of the world, but the largest number of new TB cases occurred in the World Health Organization's (WHO) South-East Asian Region (46%), followed by the African Region (23%) and the Western Pacific (18%) [1]. Around 87% of new TB cases occurred in the 30 high TB burden countries, with more than two-thirds of the global total in Bangladesh, China, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, Pakistan, and the Philippines[1]. The World Health Organization estimates that 1.8 billion people, close to one-quarter of the world's population, are infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tb), the bacteria that causes TB[5].
Mortality Rate of Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis is the leading infectious disease killer in the world, claiming 1.5 million lives each year[1]. In 2018, an estimated 10 million incident TB cases and 1.5 million TB deaths occurred, reductions of 2% and 5%, respectively, from 2017[3]. Those with compromised immune systems, such as people living with HIV, undernutrition or diabetes, or people who use tobacco, have a higher risk of falling ill. Globally in 2021, there were 2.2 million new TB cases that were attributable to undernutrition, 740,000 new TB cases worldwide were attributable to alcohol use disorder, and 690,000 were attributable to smoking[1].
Economic Burden of Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis is responsible for economic devastation and the cycle of poverty and illness that entraps families, communities, and even entire countries. Among the most vulnerable are women, children, and those with HIV/AIDS. There is growing resistance to available drugs, which means the disease is becoming more deadly and difficult to treat. There were more than half a million cases of drug-resistant TB last year[5]. According to a study, the economic burden of TB in the United States was estimated to be $1.3 billion in 2017, including $0.6 billion in direct medical costs and $0.7 billion in indirect costs[4].
Global Efforts to Address Tuberculosis
Since the World Health Organization declared tuberculosis (TB) to be a global health emergency in 1993, global efforts to address TB have been ongoing. The U.S. government is the largest donor to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria (Global Fund) and has been funding global TB efforts since 1993[6]. However, the COVID-19 pandemic further complicated TB efforts, as it disrupted access to TB detection and enrollment of individuals in services, and TB cases and deaths increased during the pandemic, reversing years of decline[6].
Tuberculosis is a continuing health threat that affects millions of people worldwide. It is a leading cause of death and economic burden, especially in low- and middle-income countries. Global efforts to address TB have been ongoing for decades, but the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted progress. It is crucial to continue investing in TB prevention, diagnosis, and treatment to reduce the global impact of this disease.
Citations:
[1] https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/tuberculosis
[2] https://www.who.int/teams/global-tuberculosis-programme/tb-reports/global-tuberculosis-report-2022
[3] https://www.cdc.gov/globalhealth/newsroom/topics/tb/index.html
[4] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7706168/
[5] https://www.tballiance.org/why-new-tb-drugs/global-pandemic
[6] https://www.kff.org/global-health-policy/fact-sheet/the-u-s-government-and-global-tuberculosis-efforts/
