The scope and intensity of the global TB epidemic is fuelled by antiquated and inadequate TB drugs.
In Nigeria, Africa’s largest country by population, nearly three out of every four cases of TB were missed.
Last month, a new report found that the number of people treated for TB in 2020 declined by 18 percent.
Before Covid-19 came along, tuberculosis (TB) was a primary focus of health authorities in sub-Saharan Africa. In 2019, approximately 1.4 million people were diagnosed with TB in the region, but epidemiologists estimated that 1 million more had TB but were neither diagnosed nor treated.
The scope and intensity of the global TB epidemic is fuelled by antiquated and inadequate TB drugs, most of which were developed more than 50 years ago. But, given how contagious TB is, we need to find and treat many more people.
And then came Covid-19, the only infectious disease that killed more people than TB in 2020. The regional numbers have held steady this past year, according to the WHO, but a deeper dive shows that more attention is needed.
In Nigeria, Africa’s largest country by population, nearly three out of every four cases of TB were missed. Ethiopia, Africa’s second-largest country, fared better, missing less than one out of every three cases. Kenya, a hub for international development in East Africa, missed almost half its TB cases.
South Africa—which has one of the heaviest burdens in the world of drug-resistant TB infections, TB/HIV co-infections, and all TB infections in total—missed 40 percent of its cases in 2020.
Last month, a new report found that the number of people treated for TB in 2020 declined by 18 percent. Even more troubling, the number of people treated for the worst cases of drug-resistant TB strains declined by 37 percent. Drug-resistant TB can be easily spread by a cough or a sneeze.
In 2018, pledges amounting to $13.5 billion annually were made at a UN meeting to help governments find and treat TB patients. We are less than halfway to meeting these pledges, and as a result, TB has increased in strength in sub-Saharan Africa and other Global South.
It’s time to strengthen our resolve and tackle all of the diseases that afflict our most vulnerable communities.
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