As countries across the globe marked World Tuberculosis (TB) Day, the World Health Organization (WHO) has called for an urgent investment to protect and maintain tuberculosis (TB) care and support services for people in need across regions and countries.
TB remains the world’s deadliest infectious disease, responsible for over 1 million people annually bringing devastating impacts on families and communities.
Global efforts to combat TB have saved an estimated 79 million lives since 2000. However, the WMO said the drastic and abrupt cuts in global health funding happening now are threatening to reverse these gains.
Rising drug resistance especially across Europe and the ongoing conflicts across the Middle East, Africa and Eastern Europe, are further exacerbating the situation for the most vulnerable.
“The huge gains the world has made against TB over the past 20 years are now at risk as cuts to funding start to disrupt access to services for prevention, screening, and treatment for people with TB,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general. “But we cannot give up on the concrete commitments that world leaders made at the UN General Assembly just 18 months ago to accelerate work to end TB. WHO is committed to working with all donors, partners and affected countries to mitigate the impact of funding cuts and find innovative solutions.”
Early reports to WHO reveal that severe disruptions in the TB response are seen across several of the highest-burden countries following the funding cuts. Countries in the WHO African Region are experiencing the greatest impact, followed by countries in the WHO South-East Asian and Western Pacific Regions. Twenty seven countries are facing crippling breakdowns in their TB response, with devastating consequences, it added.
“This urgent call is timely and underscores the necessity of swift, decisive action to sustain global TB progress and prevent setbacks that could cost lives,” said Dr Tereza Kasaeva, Director of WHO’s Global Programme on TB and Lung Health. “Investing in ending TB is not only a moral imperative but also an economic necessity—every dollar spent on prevention and treatment yields an estimated US$43 in economic returns.”
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Europe, published its 2025 Tuberculosis surveillance and monitoring report which found that children under 15 years of age accounted for 4.3% of those with new and relapsed tuberculosis (TB) in the WHO European Region, representing a worrying 10% surge in paediatric TB for 2023, compared to the previous year.
Similarly, children under 15 years accounted for 4.3% of all TB cases in the European Union/European Economic Area (EU/EEA), signifying an increase for the third year in a row.
The most recent data in the 2025 report indicate that, although the Region is recovering from the impact of the COVID-19 crisis, the effects of the pandemic continue to be felt in TB testing, prevention, diagnosis and care.
“The time to act to end TB is now. With just five years to meet our 2030 targets, it is critical that Europe renews its focus on prevention and timely, effective treatment. With the rise of drug-resistant TB, the cost of inaction today will be paid by us all tomorrow,’ said Dr Pamela Rendi-Wagner, ECDC director.
In 2023, the number of people diagnosed and treated for TB began to increase again, following an unprecedented drop in 2020 due to COVID-19-related disruptions.
“Ending TB is not a dream. It’s a choice. Sadly, the current TB burden and the worrying rise in children with TB serves as a reminder that progress against this preventable and curable disease remains fragile,” said Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge, WHO regional director for Europe. “Even before the recent cuts to international development aid, the world was facing an $11 billion shortfall in the global TB response.
“Vital TB programmes across the European Region – particularly in non-EU countries – might be impacted. This means TB transmission may go unnoticed, further fuelling the rise in hard-to-treat strains. But we cannot give up. We must continue the fight against TB and find new partners to join us. We have the tools, thanks to new treatments, technological advancements and innovation. We are transforming TB care for the better – and I hope, forever.”