Geneva: The World Health Organisation (WHO) has issued a stark warning that global progress in the fight against Tuberculosis (TB) is at risk of being reversed due to significant funding challenges. TB, one of the deadliest infectious diseases worldwide, claimed over 1.2 million lives and affected an estimated 10.7 million people last year, as revealed in the WHO Global Tuberculosis Report 2025, released on Wednesday.
According to Kuwait News Agency, WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus emphasized during a press conference in Geneva that a reduction in funding for international aid in many low- and middle-income countries could undermine hard-won gains in combating TB. He urged governments to enhance domestic resource allocation alongside international financing to sustain progress.
The WHO Global Tuberculosis Report 2025 disclosed that global funding for TB prevention, diagnosis, and treatment reached only 5.9 billion dollars in 2024, a mere quarter of the annual target set for 2027. The organization warned that continued cuts in international funding could result in an additional two million deaths and ten million new cases by 2035. The report noted a global decline in TB incidence and mortality rates between 2023 and 2024 by two percent and one percent, respectively. Africa recorded a 28 percent reduction in incidence and a 46 percent drop in deaths from 2015 to 2024, while Europe achieved even greater declines of 39 percent and 49 percent, respectively. Eight countries bear 67 percent of the global TB burden, led by India at 25 percent, followed by Indonesia, the Philippines, China, Pakistan, Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Bangladesh.
WHO TB Department Director Tereza Kasaeva highlighted that the world stands at a "critical crossroads" in tackling TB, stressing the necessity for political commitment, sustained investment, and global solidarity to preserve achievements and accelerate efforts to end TB by 2030. She called for increased domestic and international funding and stronger social protection, along with intensified research to develop new vaccines and medicines to accelerate progress toward the complete elimination of Tuberculosis.