It is time to get back to basics on tuberculosis: revisit established facts about the epidemiology of this communicable disease, examine new evidence-based strategies to end TB, and bust long-standing misconceptions and myths about the disease.
We are not on track to achieve the goals of End TB goals by 2030 or 2035. Indeed, for the first time in many years, there has been an increase in the number of people falling ill with TB — 10.6 million in 2021 — and a rise in deaths, with 1.6 million dying in 2021. We have the tools to find, cure, and prevent TB, but we need to deploy them more effectively.
We need to recall that everyone who develops TB has been infected by someone else in their household, workplace, or community who has untreated infectious TB. In countries where TB is very common — high-burden countries — most people who develop TB have been infected, or sometimes reinfected, recently (in the preceding two years). Hence, finding and treating everyone in a locality who has infectious TB is the key to preventing TB.
About the author
Guy Marks
Guy Marks is a respiratory and public health physician and epidemiologist. He is president and interim executive director of the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease. His main research interests are in chronic respiratory disease, tuberculosis control, and the adverse health effects of exposure to air pollution.
