According to preliminary data compiled by the World Health Organization (WHO) from over 80 countries, healthcare for tuberculosis reduced by 21 per cent in 2020, owing to the coronavirus pandemic.

The multilateral organisation noted that an estimated 1.4 million fewer people received care for tuberculosis (TB) in 2020 than in 2019.

The countries with the biggest relative gaps were Indonesia (42 per cent), South Africa (41 per cent), the Philippines (37 per cent), and India (25 per cent).

“The effects of Covid-19 go far beyond the death and disease caused by the virus itself. The disruption to essential services for people with TB is just one tragic example of the ways the pandemic is disproportionately affecting some of the world’s poorest people, who were already at higher risk for TB,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General.

He added: “These sobering data point to the need for countries to make universal health coverage a key priority as they respond to and recover from the pandemic, to ensure access to essential services for TB and all diseases.”

WHO fears that over half a million more people may have died from TB in 2020, simply because they were unable to obtain a diagnosis.

It believes that one way to address this problem is through restored and improved TB screening to rapidly identify people with TB infection or TB disease.

New guidance issued by WHO on World TB Day aims to help countries identify the specific needs of communities, the populations at highest risk of TB, and the locations most affected to ensure people can access the most appropriate prevention and care services.

This can be achieved through the more systematic use of screening approaches that employ novel tools. The recommendations are accompanied by an operational guide to facilitate roll-out, WHO stated.

In 2020, the UN Secretary-General issued a set of 10 priority recommendations that countries need to follow. These include activating high-level leadership and action across multiple sectors to urgently reduce TB deaths; increasing funding; advancing universal health coverage for TB prevention and care; addressing drug resistance, promoting human rights, and intensifying TB research.

“For centuries, people with TB have been among the most marginalized and vulnerable. COVID-19 has intensified the disparities in living conditions and ability to access services both within and between countries,” said Dr Tereza Kasaeva, Director of WHO’s Global TB Programme.

“We must now make a renewed effort to work together to ensure that TB programs are strong enough to deliver during any future emergency – and look for innovative ways to do this,” Kasaeva added.

comment COMMENT NOW