By New Report Shows Tuberculosis Deaths Have Fallen By 14% in Five Years, Saving 60 Million in the Last Two Decades
In the World Health Organization’s annual global report on tuberculosis, the United Nations agency responsible for international public health predicts that hundreds of thousands of people will recover or completely avoid tuberculosis disease.
Since 2000, tuberculosis treatment has prevented the death of 60 million people, and the disease itself can be treated with the right drugs.
“In 2014 and 2015, all Member States of the WHO and the UN committed to ending the tuberculosis epidemic by adopting the WHO End Tuberculosis Strategy and the UN Sustainable Development Goals” , reads the executive summary of the report. With five years passed and 10 years before the Sustainable Development Goals for 2030 are examined, what does the End TB Strategy look like?
In the last five years, the global incidence of tuberculosis has fallen by 9%. Also, this was not limited to rich countries in places like Europe, which achieved a 19% drop over the same period. This drop in tuberculosis cases also took place in several poorer regions of the world, such as sub-Saharan and eastern Africa, with the nations of Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Kenya, Namibia, South Africa and Lesotho contributing the most at 16%. reduction in the total rate of continental cases.
The cumulative total of tuberculosis deaths in the world also fell, falling 14% in the last five years. Europe, with its strong economies and widespread access to quality health care, reduced the death rate from TB by 31% during this period, while Africa has made “good progress”, reducing theirs by a fifth with far fewer resources.
“By the end of 2019, global indicators for reducing the TB disease burden, better access to TB prevention and care, and increased funding were moving in the right direction.” read the 2020 report, after describing that annual funding for End TB Strategy programs in 121 low- and middle-income member states was approximately $ 500 million more than expenditures.
Even in the midst of a global pandemic, it is important not to forget other infectious diseases, such as malaria and tuberculosis, which still require diligent efforts to combat them in regions such as Southeast and Central Asia, Africa and Oceania.
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