WHO Reports Over 1.2M Fatalities from Tuberculosis Last Year
The latest WHO Global Tuberculosis Report 2025 documents a paradox: while TB cases and mortality rates have declined, insufficient financial resources and disparities in treatment access threaten to reverse years of hard-won achievements.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus emphasized the urgency in the report: "Declines in the global burden of TB, and progress in testing, treatment, social protection and research are all welcome news after years of setbacks, but progress is not victory. The fact that TB continues to claim over a million lives each year, despite being preventable and curable, is simply unconscionable."
Progress Tempered by Regional Disparities
From 2023 to 2024, new TB infections decreased by approximately 2 percent, while mortality dropped 3 percent—a recovery linked to the restoration of healthcare infrastructure following the COVID-19 pandemic.
Regional performance varies significantly. Africa achieved a 28 percent reduction in TB cases and 46 percent decline in deaths since 2015, while Europe demonstrated more substantial progress with a 39 percent drop in incidence and 49 percent reduction in fatalities over the same timeframe.
More than 100 nations reached at least a 20 percent decline in TB incidence rates during this period, with 65 countries achieving reductions exceeding 35 percent in TB-related mortality.
However, geographic concentration remains problematic. Approximately 87 percent of emerging TB cases concentrated in just 30 countries during 2024, with India, Indonesia, and the Philippines alone accounting for more than two-thirds of worldwide cases.
Diagnosis and Treatment Access Improve Incrementally
In 2024, approximately 8.3 million individuals received new TB diagnoses and initiated treatment, representing roughly 78 percent of those who contracted the disease that year. Rapid diagnostic testing coverage expanded from 48 percent in 2023 to 54 percent in 2024.
Critical Funding Crisis Looms
Financial constraints pose the most significant barrier to TB elimination. The WHO reported that merely $5.9 billion was allocated for prevention, diagnosis, and treatment in 2024—representing only one-quarter of the $22 billion yearly requirement projected for 2027.
Projections suggest that sustained reductions in international funding could precipitate 2 million excess deaths and 10 million additional infections by 2035.
Tereza Kasaeva, director of the WHO's Department for HIV, TB, Hepatitis and STIs, underscored the stakes: "We are at a defining moment in the fight against TB. Funding cuts and persistent drivers of the epidemic threaten to undo hard-won gains, but with political commitment and global solidarity, we can turn the tide and end this ancient killer once and for all."
The organization is calling for governments to strengthen political will, expand domestic TB funding, and prioritize research acceleration to sustain momentum in disease elimination efforts.
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