The global efforts towards addressing tuberculosis are beginning to turn the tide, with deaths declining for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Overall, 83 million lives were saved due to TB prevention and care since the year 2000, but despite global gains, the disease still remains the world’s leading infectious killer.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has released the Global Tuberculosis Report that presents data and evidence from 184 countries and areas with more than 99 percent of the world’s population and TB burden.
The report shows that TB claimed over 1.2 million lives and affected an estimated 10.7 million people last year despite measurable progress in diagnosis, treatment, and innovation.
Despite the progress, the report says that persistent challenges in funding and equitable access to care threaten to reverse hard-won gains in the global fight against TB.
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, while releasing the report, said that declines in the global burden of TB and progress in testing, treatment, social protection, and research are all welcome news after years of setbacks but noted that progress is not victory.
“The fact that TB continues to claim over a million lives each year, despite being preventable and curable, is simply unconscionable. WHO is working with countries to build on the progress they have made and accelerate the path to ending TB by 2030,” he said
According to WHO, the global funding for TB has stagnated since 2020, and in 2024, only USD5.9 billion was available for prevention, diagnosis, and treatment—just over a quarter of the USD22 billion annual target set for 2027 and thus requires sustained investment.
Cuts to international donor funding from 2025 onwards pose a serious challenge, the report says, noting that modelling studies have already warned that long-term cuts to international donor funding could result in up to 2 million additional deaths and 10 million people falling ill with TB between 2025 and 2035.
Global TB research funding also lags, reaching only USD 1.2 billion in 2023, which is 24 percent of the target, although as of August 2025, 63 diagnostic tests were in development and 29 drugs were in clinical trials, up from just 8 in 2015.
Dr Tereza Kasaeva, Director of the WHO Department for HIV, TB, Hepatitis, and STIs, said, “We are at a defining moment in the fight against TB. Funding cuts and persistent drivers of the epidemic threaten to undo hard-won gains, but with political commitment, sustained investment, and global solidarity, we can turn the tide and end this ancient killer once and for all.”
Some regions and countries, she added, have shown sustained progress, demonstrating that strong political commitment and investment address this ancient disease.
Between 2015 and 2024, the WHO African Region achieved a 28 percent reduction in the TB incidence rate—the number of people falling ill with TB per 100,000 population per year—and a 46 percent reduction in deaths.
Dr Kasaeva noted that the challenges are significant, but they are not insurmountable, and thus ending the global TB epidemic, a commitment made by all WHO and UN member states, demands renewed urgency and intensified action.
“With major cuts to funding in 2025, strong political leadership and increased domestic investment in high-burden countries are now absolutely critical. The choices made today will determine whether we accelerate progress, or allow hard-won gains to slip away.”, Dr Kavaeza emphasized
The Global TB Report provides powerful evidence and a clear call to action. The data is compelling: progress is possible, but only if we commit to it,” the 2025 TB report says.
In 2024, 87 percent of the global number of people who developed TB disease were concentrated in 30 countries. Just eight of them accounted for 67% of the global total: India (25%), Indonesia (10%), the Philippines (6.8%), China (6.5%), Pakistan (6.3%), Nigeria (4.8%), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (3.9%), and Bangladesh (3.6%).
Kenya has made significant progress in reducing TB incidence and deaths, with a 41 percent drop in cases and a 66 percent reduction in deaths since 2019, although it is still short of the 2025 targets of a 50 percent reduction and 75 percent reduction in deaths, respectively.
Key challenges still remain, which include persistent funding gaps, inequities in access, and high rates of drug-resistant TB.
The Global Fund remains the largest international donor for low- and middle-income countries. The next replenishment of the Global Fund will take place on 22nd November in South Africa, and the report says that in this time of crisis and uncertainty, investing in the Global Fund will be vital to help low- and middle-income countries that are struggling to make strong progress against TB, HIV, and malaria.
By Wangari Ndirangu
