The latest World Health Organization tuberculosis report reveals that tuberculosis is — once again — the world’s leading infectious killer, after being knocked off the top spot by COVID-19 during the pandemic.
Despite decades of medical advancement, TB continues to claim millions of lives annually, with 10 million new infections each year and 1.25 million deaths in 2023 — almost double the deaths due to HIV/AIDS. An alarming 2.9 million cases go undiagnosed annually. The COVID-19 pandemic has further complicated our progress, reversing two decades of advancement in TB detection and treatment.
Amid these challenges, artificial intelligence, or AI, is emerging as a powerful ally in our mission to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals for health. WHO has consistently identified “finding people with TB” as the primary bottleneck in our fight against this disease. This is where AI’s transformative potential becomes evident.
About the author
Caroline Van Cauwelaert
Caroline Van Cauwelaert is CEO at EPCON. She has a background in product innovation and economics. She has been working as an innovation consultant for many years up to the moment when she became general manager at a digital innovation agency of about 35 people in Antwerp. In 2021 she invested in EPCON and became CEO. Her ambition is to make EPCON “incontournable” in the world of public health.
