- It is currently a disease that causes 1.6 million deaths annually globally.
- During 2022, for the first time in almost two decades, the WHO reported that there was an increase in cases and deaths caused by this disease.
- The current top goal is to eradicate tuberculosis by 2030.
On the occasion of World Tuberculosis Day, the World Health Organization (WHO) released a new strategy to eradicate this disease. This initiative seeks to be applied during the period between 2023 and 2030 to achieve its final objective. To date, it is one of the most ambitious proposals in the medical field, but do you think the task will be achieved?
To begin with, tuberculosis remains among the leading infectious causes of death worldwide. It causes 1.6 million deaths a year and affects millions of people, in addition to having a huge impact on families and communities.
current world picture
For its part, the COVID-19 pandemic, together with current crises such as armed conflicts, food insecurity, climate change, and political and economic instability, has reversed years of progress in the fight against tuberculosis.
Last year, for the first time in almost two decades, the WHO reported an increase in the number of people contracting tuberculosis and drug-resistant tuberculosis, along with an increase in deaths.
“Tuberculosis is preventable, treatable and curable, yet this ancient scourge that has afflicted humanity for millennia continues to cause suffering and death to millions of people every year. WHO is committed to supporting countries to scale up their response, expanding access to tuberculosis prevention, detection and treatment services as part of their path towards universal health coverage, and to strengthen their defenses against epidemics and pandemics,” said WHO Director Tedros Adhanom.
The WHO Director-General’s flagship initiative on tuberculosis builds on progress made and lessons learned from 2018-2022. Its goal is to expand the provision of quality care to people living with this disease through equitable access to recommended rapid diagnostic tests, shorter all-oral treatment for infection, and increased access to social protection, as well as other innovations such as digital tools for health.
The initiative underlines the pressing need to increase national and international investment in tuberculosis services, research and innovation, especially in the development of new vaccines.
This year, the motto of the world tuberculosis days is “Yes, we can end TB!”, with the aim of promoting optimism and high-level leadership, increased investment, rapid adoption of new WHO recommendations and strengthened multisectoral alliances to combat the tuberculosis epidemic.
New indications to eradicate tuberculosis
As part of the Director-General’s flagship initiative, WHO and partners have issued a special call to action urging Member States to accelerate implementation of the new WHO-recommended shorter all-oral treatments for drug-resistant tuberculosis.
The tuberculosis farmacorresistente It remains a pressing public health problem that significantly affects people with tuberculosis, communities and health systems around the world. In 2021, almost half a million people fell ill with multidrug-resistant or rifampicin-resistant tuberculosis (MR-TB/RR-TB), and only one in three accessed treatment.
The new WHO guidelines on the treatment of drug-resistant tuberculosis recommend rapid implementation of the novel BPaLM/BPaL treatment. It has the potential to significantly increase cure rates due to its high efficacy, offer wider access due to its lower cost, and improve the quality of life of patients, since it is a completely oral treatment and much shorter than traditional treatments.
In September 2023, the United Nations General Assembly will convene three high-level meetings focused on universal health coverage, pandemic preparedness and response, and ending TB. In the events the Heads of State will deliberate to accelerate action, in particular in order to achieve the goal of eradicate tuberculosis.
Also read:
WHO seeks to eradicate tuberculosis by 2030
“Vaccination, one of the most powerful tools of public health”: Jorge Alcocer
First nasal tuberculosis vaccine: Everything you need to know