The World Health Organization (WHO) revealed on Tuesday, October 29, that Tuberculosis (TB) replaced COVID to become most dangerous disease in recent years.
As per Reuters, WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement, "The fact that TB still kills and sickens so many people is an outrage, when we have the tools to prevent it, detect it and treat it.”
TB is an infectious disease that most often affects the lungs. It spreads through the air when infected people cough, sneeze or spit.
Approx 8.2 million people were diagnosed with tuberculosis last year.
Although the number of deaths due to the disease decreased from 1.32 million in 2022 to 1.25 million in 2023, the estimated number of people who become ill in 2023 increases slightly to 10.8 million.
The organization further said that the efforts and targets to reduce the disease are almost off track, while significant progress is urgently required to combat this disease.
TB is preventable and curable but sometimes bacteria no longer respond well to treatments.
About a quarter of the global population is estimated to have been infected with TB bacteria.
Symptoms of Tuberculosis (TB):
Common symptoms of active TB include cough, pain in the chest, and coughing up blood or sputum (phlegm).
