Tuberculosis continues to pose threat, warn health organizations

Even in times of Covid-19, tuberculosis (TB) remains one of the deadliest infectious diseases in the world, the World Health Organization (WHO) and European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) warned on World Tuberculosis Day on Thursday.

A drop in registered TB cases of 24% between 2019 and 2020 was presumably down to the pandemic affecting the diagnosis and reporting of the disease, but it remains the second most deadly infectious disease behind Covid-19, the two health organizations said.

The ECDC and WHO said that urgent investments in the battle against TB were crucial against the backdrop of the pandemic.

While countries in Europe and Central Asia have surpassed their goal of a 20% reduction in TB cases within five years, there is no room for complacency, said Hans Kluge, regional director of the WHO.

For further progress against the disease, innovative and more effective procedures for the diagnosis and treatment of TB and multidrug-resistant TB would have to be introduced, Kluge said.

ECDC director Andrea Ammon added that, amid the Covid-19 pandemic, "the fight against TB has unfortunately grown more difficult in the last two years."

In the European area, which includes 53 countries by WHO standards, more than 160,000 cases of TB were reported in 2020, with 216,000 reported the previous year.