World TB Day: WHO says funding cuts threaten Tuberculosis fight

As nations mark World Tuberculosis (TB) Day, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has called for urgent investment into TB care, lamenting that drastic and abrupt cuts in global health funding threaten to reverse decades of progress to combat the disease.

WHO noted that TB remained the world’s deadliest infectious disease, responsible for over one million people yearly bringing devastating impacts on families and communities.

In a message to mark the day, celebrated every March 24, WHO noted that Global efforts to combat TB had saved an estimated 79 million lives since 2000.

It noted: “The drastic and abrupt cuts in global health funding happening now threaten 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.”

This year’s theme is “Yes! We Can End TB: Commit, Invest, Deliver”. WHO campaign this year highlights a rallying cry for urgency, accountability and hope.
Speaking on the disease, WHO’s Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said: “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.

“But we cannot give up on the concrete commitments that world leaders made at the UN General Assembly 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.”

He identified funding as a threat to global TB efforts and disclosed that early reports to WHO revealed that severe disruptions in the TB response were seen across the highest-burden countries following the funding cuts. WHO disclosed that countries in the WHO African Region were experiencing the greatest impact, followed by countries in the WHO Southeast Asian and Western Pacific Regions.

Twenty-seven countries are facing crippling breakdowns in their TB response, with devastating consequences, such as human resource shortages undermining service delivery; diagnostic services severely disrupted, delaying detection and treatment; data and surveillance systems collapsing, compromising disease tracking and management; community engagement efforts, including active case finding, screening, and contact tracing, deteriorating, leading to delayed diagnoses and increased transmission risks.