The WHO released the Global TB Report 2022 on October 27, 2022.
Key highlights of the report
- The Report notes the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the diagnosis, treatment and burden of disease for TB all over the world. Globally, the annual estimated number of deaths from TB fell between 2005 and 2019, but the estimates for 2020 and 2021 suggest that this trend has been reversed.
- An estimated 10.6 million people fell ill with tuberculosis (TB) in 2021, an increase of 4.5% from 2020, and 1.6 million people died from TB (including 187 000 among HIV positive people). The burden of drug-resistant TB (DR-TB) also increased by 3% between 2020 and 2021, with 450 000 new cases of rifampicin-resistant TB (RR-TB) in 2021.
- This is the first time in many years an increase has been reported in the number of people falling ill with TB and drug resistant TB.
- The global number of deaths officially classified as caused by TB in 2021 (1.4 million) was more than double the number caused by HIV/AIDS (0.65 million), and TB mortality has been much more severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic than HIV/AIDS.
- Drug-resistant TB (DR-TB) continues to be a public health threat. Resistance to rifampicin – the most effective first-line drug – is of greatest concern.
- Resistance to rifampicin and isoniazid is defined as multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB).
- Both MDR-TB and rifampicin-resistant TB (RR-TB) require treatment with second-line drugs.
- Three countries accounted for 42% of global cases in 2021: India (26%), the Russian Federation (8.5%) and Pakistan (7.9%).
- India’s TB incidence for the year 2021 is 210 per 100,000 population – compared to the baseline year of 2015 (incidence was 256 per lakh of population in India); there has been an 18% decline which is 7 percentage points better than the global average of 11%. These figures also place India at the 36th position in terms of incidence rates (from largest to smallest incidence numbers).
- While the COVID-19 pandemic impacted TB Programmes across the world, India was able to successfully offset the disruptions caused, through the introduction of critical interventions in 2020 and 2021 – this led to the National TB Elimination Programme notifying over 21.4 lakh TB cases – 18% higher than 2020.
About Tuberculosis (TB)
- Tuberculosis (TB) is a communicable disease that is a major cause of ill health and one of the leading causes of death worldwide.
- Until the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, TB was the leading cause of death from a single infectious agent, ranking above HIV/AIDS.
- TB is caused by the bacillus Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which is spread when people who are sick with TB expel bacteria into the air (e.g. by coughing).
- About a quarter of the global population is estimated to have been infected with TB (1), but most people will not go on to develop TB disease and some will clear the infection (2, 3).
- Of the total number of people who develop TB each year, about 90% are adults, with more cases among men than women.
- The disease typically affects the lungs (pulmonary TB) but can affect other sites as well.
