WHO Calls for Action on Tuberculosis

By Hamu Madzedze-Online Health Editor,Zimbabwe

The World Health Organisation's (WHO) and its stakeholders are sounding the alarm on the global fight against Tuberculosis (TB) urging collective action in addressing the TB burden.

The recently published global Tuberculosis report 2024 has revealed that despite progress made in addressing TB it still remains a major global health threat affecting 10.8 million people globally and claiming 1.25 million lives including 161 000 among people living with HIV in 2023.

WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and the WHO Civil Society Task Force on TB have issued a joint statement emphasising the need to translate commitments made by the United Nations Member States at the second UN General Assembly High Level Meeting in September 2023 on the fight against Tuberculosis.

In that historic event Member states adopted political declaration in which they committed to achieving ambitious targets by 2027 which include diagnosing 90% of people with TB,provide TB preventive treatment to 90% of those eligible,test 100% of people with TB with rapid diagnostic tests,licence at least one new TB vaccine within 5 years and mobilise at least 22 billion united states dollars by 2027 and 5 billion united states dollars for TB research.

"We are concerned that the current funding allocation for TB is grossly insufficient and the current funding is only 5.7 billion united states dollars" said Dr Ghebreyesus.

The joint statement is also urging stakeholders to significantly increase domestic and international funding for ending TB, including for meaningful engagement of civil society and TB affected communities to be part of the planning, decision making,implementation and monitoring of national strategic plans to end TB and ensure robust social support and protection measures aimed at avoiding catastrophic costs for patients with TB and their families and provide equitable access to high-quality TB prevention and care.

Global efforts to combat TB have saved an estimated 79 million lives since the year 2000 and ending TB epidemic by 2030 is among the health targets of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).