On 24 March, the world marks World Tuberculosis Day and WHO invite leaders to invest to end TB and Save lives. Investing in this disease that has devastating health, social and economic impacts on people can find missing cases, reduce mortality and improve productivity. One dollar well invested in TB prevention and care yields more than 40 dollars in return.
In 2020, the number of TB deaths in the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region rose for the first time in over a decade, from 77,700 to 83,000. In 2021, WHO estimated that TB has killed more people worldwide than any other infectious disease, except COVID-19. Treatment coverage decreased to 52%, meaning that approximately half of all people with TB were neither diagnosed nor treated.
Tuberculosis control in complex emergencies