Ending TB is a race against time and drug resistance
TB burden in the WHO European Region as a whole is decreasing. However, TB is second only to COVID-19 as an infectious disease that kills, and drug resistance is a major concern.
The tuberculosis (TB) burden in the WHO European Region as a whole is decreasing, and is down 19% overall for 2015–2019, according to the latest WHO/European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) report Tuberculosis surveillance and monitoring in Europe 2021 (2019 data).
Regional TB mortality has gone down, declining by 9.4% between 2018 and 2019. This is notably higher than the average global decline in TB mortality (3.7%) and enough to have reached the End TB Strategy milestone of a 35% reduction by 2020 compared to 2015.
However, TB is second only to COVID-19 as an infectious disease that kills, and drug resistance is a major concern. There are also worrying indications that the COVID-19 pandemic may stall progress or cause significant setbacks in the fight against TB.
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Source: ECDC
