Global TB Cases Fall

Tuberculosis remains one of the world's deadliest infectious diseases, yet the latest global tally carries genuinely encouraging news. The World Health Organization's Global Tuberculosis Report 2025, released on 12 November 2025, found that the rate at which people contract TB fell by nearly 2% between 2023 and 2024, and TB deaths fell by about 3%. These reductions signal a continued recovery of essential health services following disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The progress is broad. Over 100 countries achieved at least a 20% reduction in TB incidence rates, and 65 countries cut TB-related deaths by 35% or more. Between 2015 and 2024, the WHO African Region reduced TB incidence by 28% and deaths by 46%, while the European Region saw a 39% drop in incidence and a 49% reduction in deaths. A total of 8.3 million people were newly diagnosed and treated in 2024, and 5.3 million received preventive treatment, helping stop the disease before it could take hold.

Treatment itself works remarkably well when people can access it. The success rate for drug-susceptible TB held at 88%, and for the harder-to-treat drug-resistant form it rose to 71%, up from 68% the year before. Rapid molecular testing, which speeds accurate diagnosis, expanded from 48% to 54% of cases — important progress for a disease where delayed diagnosis costs lives.

The report is candid about the threat to this progress: funding. TB still claims over 1.2 million lives a year, "despite being preventable and curable," in the words of WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who called continued deaths "simply unconscionable." Only US$5.9 billion was available for the response in 2024, far short of the US$22 billion annual target. The gains are real but fragile. Yet after years of setbacks, seeing TB cases and deaths fall together — and treatment working better than ever — is a hopeful reminder that the world knows how to beat this ancient disease, if it keeps up the effort.