WHO wants increased investments into TB services, research

THE World Health Organisation (WHO) says there needs to be an urgent investment of resources, support, care and information into the fight against tuberculosis (TB).
The WHO made this call as part of World TB Day today.
It said although 66 million lives had been saved since 2000, the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic had reversed those gains.
The WHO said for the first time in over a decade, TB deaths increased in 2020.
It said ongoing conflicts across Eastern Europe, Africa and the Middle East had further exacerbated the situation for vulnerable populations.
According to WHO Global spending on TB diagnostics, treatments and prevention in 2020 were less than half of the global target of US$13 billion (about K45.70 billion) annually by 2022.
For research and development, an extra US$1.1 billion (about K3.87 billion) per year is needed.
WHO director-general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said urgent investments were needed to develop and expand access to the most innovative services and tools to prevent, detect and treat TB that could save millions of lives each year, narrow inequities and avert huge economic losses.
“These investments offer huge returns for countries and donors, in averted health care costs and increased productivity.”
The WHO said that investments in TB programmes had demonstrated benefits not just for people with TB but for health systems and pandemic preparedness.
It said building on lessons learnt from the Covid-19 research, there was a need to catalyse investment and action to accelerate the development of new tools, especially new TB vaccines.
The WHO said the situation was worse for children and adolescents with TB. In 2020, an estimated 63 per cent of children and young adolescents below 15 years with TB were not reached with or not officially reported to have accessed life-saving TB diagnosis and treatment services; the proportion was even higher – 72 per cent – for children under five years.
Almost two thirds of eligible children under five did not receive TB preventive treatment and, therefore, remain at risk of illness.
The WHO said the Covid-19 had had a negative and disproportionate impact on children and adolescents with TB or at risk, with increased TB transmission in the household, lower care-seeking and access to health services.
It warned countries to restore access to TB services, disrupted due to the Covid-19 pandemic for all people with TB, especially children and adolescents.
“Children and adolescents with TB are lagging behind adults in access to TB prevention and care”, said Dr Tereza Kasaeva, director of the WHO’s global TB programme.
“WHO guidelines issued today are a game changer for children and adolescents, helping them get diagnosed and access care sooner, leading to better outcomes and cutting transmission.
“The priority now is to expand implementation of the guidance across countries to save young lives and avert suffering”