Ending tuberculosis (TB) globally will require accelerated progress in countries with the highest burden, the World Health Organisation said on Wednesday, noting that eight countries account for 67% of all TB patients, with India topping the list with a quarter of all patients.
Despite many gains, global progress levels remain far from meeting the WHO’s End TB Strategy targets. Global funding for TB treatment, prevention, and research has stagnated, barely reaching a quarter of the targeted amounts, according to the WHO Global Tuberculosis Report 2025.
TB remains one of the world’s deadliest infections, claiming over 12 lakh lives and affecting an estimated 1.07 crore people last year. In 2024, 87% of the world’s TB patients were concentrated in 30 countries, with the highest rates found in India (25%), Indonesia (10%), the Philippines (6.8%), China (6.5%), Pakistan (6.3%), Nigeria (4.8%), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (3.9%) and Bangladesh (3.6%), the report said.
Funding cuts
Despite measurable progress in diagnosis, treatment and innovation, persistent challenges in funding and equitable access to care threaten to reverse hard-won gains in the global fight against TB, the report said. It notes that cuts to international donor funding from 2025 onward pose a serious challenge. Modelling studies have already warned that long-term cuts to international donor funding could result in up to 20 lakh additional deaths and one crore people falling ill with TB between 2025 and 2035.
Global funding for TB has stagnated since 2020. In 2024, only $5.9 billion was available for prevention, diagnosis, and treatment, just over a quarter of the $22 billion annual target set for 2027, the report said.
Funding for TB research also lags, reaching only $1.2 billion in 2023 (24% of the target). In terms of tools to fight TB, the report says that as of August 2025, 63 diagnostic tests were in development and 29 drugs were in clinical trials, up from just eight in 2015. Additionally, 18 vaccine candidates are undergoing clinical trials, including 6 in Phase 3.
Decline in TB incidence
Between 2023 and 2024, the global rate of people falling ill with TB declined by nearly 2%, while deaths from TB fell by 3%.
Some regions and countries show sustained progress; for instance, between 2015 and 2024, the WHO African Region achieved a 28% reduction in the TB incidence rate, or the number of people falling ill with TB per 1,00,000 population per year, and a 46% reduction in deaths. The European Region saw even greater declines, with a 39% drop in incidence and a 49% reduction in deaths.
During the same period, over 100 countries achieved at least a 20% reduction in TB incidence rates, and 65 countries achieved reductions of 35% or more in TB-related deaths. These countries have attained the first milestones of the WHO’s End TB Strategy.
‘Unconscionable deaths’
Declines in the global TB burden, and progress in testing, treatment, social protection and research are all welcome news after years of setbacks, but progress is not victory, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement.
“The fact that TB continues to claim over a million lives each year, despite being preventable and curable, is simply unconscionable. WHO is working with countries to build on the progress they have made and accelerate the path to ending TB by 2030,” he added.
Testing and treatment
WHO also notes that timely treatment for TB has saved an estimated 8.3 crore lives since 2000. Between 2023 and 2024, progress continued in TB diagnosis, prevention, and treatment, reflecting the impact of sustained efforts and innovation in countries.
In 2024, 83 lakh people were newly diagnosed with TB and accessed treatment, representing about 78% of the people who fell ill with the disease during that year. The coverage of rapid testing for TB diagnosis increased from 48% in 2023 to 54% in 2024 and treatment for drug-susceptible TB remained highly effective, with a success rate of 88%.
The number of people developing drug-resistant TB each year has also been declining, with over 1.64 lakh people receiving treatment in 2024. The latest data show an improvement in the treatment success rate, to 71%, up from 68% the previous year. In 2024, 53 lakh people at high risk of TB received preventive treatment, up from 47 lakh in 2023.
Unequal protection
For the first time, WHO has reported on progress toward the social protection target established at the second UN High-Level Meeting on TB in 2023, using data compiled by the International Labour Organization (ILO). Among the 30 high TB burden countries, social protection coverage remains highly unequal, ranging from 3.1% in Uganda to 94% in Mongolia. Notably, 19 countries report coverage rates below 50%.
The report also highlights data on the major risk factors driving the epidemic such as undernutrition, HIV infections, diabetes, smoking, and alcohol use. Confronting these drivers, alongside structural determinants such as poverty, requires coordinated multisectoral action.
“We are at a defining moment in the fight against TB,” said Tereza Kasaeva, director of the WHO Department for HIV, TB, Hepatitis and STIs. “Funding cuts and persistent drivers of the epidemic threaten to undo hard-won gains, but with political commitment, sustained investment, and global solidarity, we can turn the tide and end this ancient killer once and for all.” WHO now calls for sustained political commitment, increased domestic investment, and intensified research to accelerate progress.
Published – November 12, 2025 09:54 pm IST
