Global Tuberculosis (TB) Report 2024

About Global TB Report:

• It is an annual report published by the World Health Organization (WHO).
• It provides a comprehensive and up-to-date assessment of the TB epidemic and of progress in prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of the disease at global, regional, and country levels. 
• Highlights of the 2024 Report:

• It shows 8.2 million people were newly diagnosed with TB in 2023, a figure that represents the highest number of TB cases recorded by the WHO since it began global TB monitoring in 1995.
• It also marks a significant increase from the 7.5 million new TB cases reported in 2022.
• Although the estimated number of 1.25 million TB deaths in 2023 is down from the 1.32 million recorded in 2022 and continues a declining trend from the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, that number still far surpasses the 320,000 COVID deaths officially reported to the WHO last year.
• The data show that 30 mostly low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) bear 87% of the global TB burden, with five countries—India (26%), Indonesia (10%), China (6.8%), the Philippines (6.8%), and Pakistan (6.3%)—combining for 56% of the burden. 
• 55 percent of people who developed TB were men, 33 percent were women, and 12 percent were children and young adolescents. 
• According to the report, a significant number of new TB cases are driven by five major risk factors: undernutrition, HIV infection, alcohol use disorders, smoking, and diabetes.
• In 2023, India was estimated to have had 27 lakh TB cases, of which 25.1 lakh persons were diagnosed and put on treatment. 
• This has buoyed India's treatment coverage to 89 percent in 2023 from 72 percent in 2015, thereby bridging the gap of missing cases.
• It acknowledged a drop in India's TB incidence - from 237 per lakh population in 2015, to 195 per lakh population in 2023, accounting for a 17.7 percent decline.