World Tuberculosis Day highlights global epidemic

tuberculosis

TB is reportedly the second leading cause of death worldwide by an infectious disease, after Covid-19

World Tuberculosis (TB) Day is observed on 24 March annually, to raise awareness about the disease and efforts being made to end the epidemic.

The theme of World Tuberculosis Day 2023 is ‘Yes! We can end TB!’. To support this mission, the World Health Organization (WHO) is issuing a call to action among the member states to accelerate the rollout of specific treatment regimens for drug-resistant TB. This will lead up to the UN High-Level Meeting on TB on 22 September 2023.

TB is reportedly the second leading cause of death worldwide by an infectious disease – only recently moving from first to second place, behind Covid-19.

Over the past 10 years, 668 clinical trials for TB treatments have been initiated, nearly 30 per cent of which have begun since 2020, according to statistics from GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

In most instances, TB is both preventable and curable. Treatment usually consists of a combination of antibiotics for at least six months, and prevention relies on proper hygiene and isolation from those most at risk of severe infection.

However, a growing concern in recent years has been the emergence of antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria, including M. tuberculosis.

Stephanie Kurdach, Infectious Disease Analyst at GlobalData, said: “Antibiotic resistance is a serious occurrence, but it can be mitigated by patients using their prescribed medications appropriately and completing their entire treatment regimen without stopping prematurely.”

The WHO estimates there were 450,000 cases of drug resistant TB in 2021. Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis occurs when the infection does not respond to at least isoniazid and rifampin. Extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis occurs when the infection is further resistant to fluoroquinolones and second-line drugs.

Kurdach concluded: “An effective strategy for minimizing antibiotic resistance is to develop products that act on novel targets, thereby reducing the risk of any cross-resistance among antibiotics.”