The latest annual report from the World Health Organization (WHO) shows that in 2024, tuberculosis (TB) claimed 1.23 million lives globally; a small but significant decline of 3% from the previous year. At the same time, new TB diagnoses also dropped by nearly 2 percent.
On paper, this is the first year since the COVID-19 pandemic that TB deaths and cases have fallen. WHO reported, in its report released Wednesday, that around 8.3 million people newly diagnosed accessed treatment in 2024, and treatment success rates improved from 68 percent to 71 percent.
These are positive signs but the global health agency warns that the fight against TB remains precarious. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus cautioned that the progress is “not victory.”
He said that it is simply “unconscionable” that a preventable and curable disease continues to kill so many people around the world.
“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 progress is not victory,” Ghebreyesus said.
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In addition, the chief of WHO’s TB, HIV and related infections division, Tereza Kasaeva, warned that long-term cuts in international donor funding could lead to 2 million additional deaths and 10 million more people falling ill between 2025 and 2035.
In 2024, only $5.9 billion were available worldwide for TB prevention, diagnosis and treatment; falling considerably short of the $22 billion annual target set for 2027. The gap undermines TB control efforts and raises fears of a backslide in gains made so far.
The report further records that TB deaths in 2024 are still 29 percent lower than in 2015, but that falls short of the agency’s goal of a 75 percent reduction by 2025 and 90 percent by 2030. It also highlights that international funding has already helped avert an estimated 3.65 million deaths from TB.
The stakes are particularly high for low and middle-income countries where TB remains a major killer, often exacerbated by poverty, under-resourced health systems, and rising antimicrobial resistance.
Established in December 2008, The Diplomatic Insight is Pakistan’s premier diplomacy and foreign affairs magazine, available in both digital and print formats.
