On Thursday, the World Health Organization revealed that the death rate for tuberculosis is estimated to have increased between 2019 and 2021 globally. They noted that the COVID-19 pandemic severely derailed the efforts to tackle the disease, reversing years of decline.

The WHO’s annual TB report revealed that 1.6 million people in 2021 were estimated to have died of tuberculosis, exceeding the estimated 1.5 million deaths in 2020 and 1.4 million deaths in 2019. According to the report, about 10.6 million people were infected with tuberculosis in 2021, an increase of 4.5% from 2020. Hence, the report warned that in the future, TB could replace COVID-19 as the leading cause of death worldwide from a single infectious agent.

Additionally, another report from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria showed that although the number of people affected by these killer diseases rebounded last year, the world was still not on track to defeat these killer diseases.

Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of WHO, said, "If the pandemic has taught us anything, its that with solidarity, determination, innovation, and the equitable use of tools, we can overcome severe health threats." The health agency urged the world to apply lessons learned from the pandemic to tuberculosis, which severely affects countries such as India, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Pakistan. 

(Source: https://www.livemint.com/news/world/tuberculosis-deaths-rose-during-pandemic-reversing-years-of-decline-who-11666885171609.html