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While the world’s attention is focused on the coronavirus, the number of people suffering from tuberculosis is increasing. According to scientists, up to 19 million more people will die of tuberculosis globally due to COVID-1,4. This will be due to the lack of necessary diagnostics and the availability of treatment for patients with tuberculosis.
Tuberculosis kills millions of people every year
Tuberculosis is a bacterial disease that primarily affects the respiratory system. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 10 million people worldwide suffer from it every year, of which 1,5 million die. This means that tuberculosis is the infectious disease with the highest mortality rate.
The latest reports show that the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 and related restrictions by 2025, up to 6,3 million people more will be infected with tuberculosis than if there was no pandemic. Up to 1,4 million more people may die for this, which will be due to the lower number of diagnoses and the lack of access to treatment. Such an increase in the number of tuberculosis cases and deaths reverse the results of international efforts to contain tuberculosis by five to eight years.
Research predicting this development was carried out by Stop TB Partnership, an international network of tuberculosis organizations, in collaboration with Imperial College London, Avenir Health, and Johns Hopkins University. The analyzes were based on data considering the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on tuberculosis prevention services in the countries with the highest incidence.
COVID-19 in focus – other diseases in the shade
Lucica Ditiu, who heads the Stop TB Partnership, expressed outrage at the neglect of existing ones disease control programs. Ditiu notes that tuberculosis has been around for thousands of years, with a vaccine for 100 years, and potentially two or three new ones are under development. By 2027, nearly half a billion people were to be vaccinated. Meanwhile, over 100 potential vaccines for COVID-19, a disease that has been with us for several months, are already under preparation.
There is currently one TB vaccine for children. There is no one intended for adults.
Read more: BCG or Tuberculosis Vaccine – Everything You Need to Know About It
The community of organizations and experts in the fight against tuberculosis points out that research groups around the world focus only on work on a vaccine against coronavirus. Very few specialists deal with any other disease.
Lucica Ditiu, presiding over the Stop TB Partnership
We don’t have the tuberculosis vaccine, we don’t have the HIV vaccine, we don’t have the malaria vaccine. Of them all, tuberculosis is the oldest disease.
Tuberculosis kills around 1,5 million people each year, more than any other contagious disease. In recent years, the number of new cases of this disease has been constantly decreasing, which was the result of preventive measures and the increase in the number of services dealing with tuberculosis treatment. Five years ago it took off a program to end the tuberculosis epidemic by 2030. During a high-level meeting in 2018, a decision was also made to increase funding for the fight against tuberculosis – this goal was to be achieved by 2022.
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