Tuberculosis killed 1.6 million people in 2022. The progress against tackling the disease was set back significantly due to the coronavirus pandemic. This has led to a rise in the number of undiagnosed and untreated tuberculosis.
India has the highest disease burden globally with more than half a million tuberculosis deaths in 2021. This number amounts to about a third of the global total.
However, there is hope. India diagnosed and treated 2.4 million people with tuberculosis in 2022. Indonesia, Bangladesh, Nigeria, South Africa, Ethiopia, and Brazil also made progress.
India has set a target to effectively eradicate TB by 2025. The WHO has set a global target of 2030 through diagnosis, treatment, and development of a vaccine. However, that would require more funding. An estimated 230 billion dollars over the next 8 years. TB is more prevalent and dangerous in poorer countries. Scientists say a lack of commercial opportunity has hindered research and development into new TB medicines. But the development of a new vaccine would save millions of lives.
World TB day on March 24 marks the anniversary of German doctor Robert Cox's discovery of the bacterium that caused TB in 1882.
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