World TB Day: Africa close to achieving 35% tuberculosis death reduction, says WHO

The World Health Organisation (WHO) says Africa is close to achieving a 35 percent tuberculosis death reduction.

In a statement commemorating World Tuberculosis Day, Matshidiso Moeti, regional director for Africa, said the WHO showed that it is possible to reach and even surpass the first milestone of the End TB Strategy of 20 percent reduction by 2020.

She said through advocacy, and effective partnerships, enormous progress has been made over the past decade, especially in the east and southern African regions.

“High-burden countries, like Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, and Zambia have surpassed or reached the 20% target of reducing new TB cases,” the statement reads.

“The WHO in the African Region is now on the threshold of reaching a 35% TB death reduction: there has been a 26% reduction in TB deaths between 2015 and 2021. Seven countries — Eswatini, Kenya, Mozambique, South Soudan, Togo, Uganda, and Zambia—have reached a 35% reduction in deaths since 2015.”

Moeti said there are, however, still challenges to TB prevention and control across regions.

“First, the delayed diagnosis and testing. There is still a notable gap between the estimated number of new infections and case notifications of TB: 40% of people living with TB did not know of their diagnosis or it was not reported in 2021. One million people are living with TB in the region and have not been detected,” the statement reads.

“Second, the link between TB and HIV. Approximately 20% of people newly diagnosed with TB are also living with HIV infection.

“Third, the multi-drug resistant TB. In the African region, only 26% of all people living with multi-drug resistance are receiving the appropriate treatment.

“Still, I am delighted that our Member States are increasing the uptake of new tools and guidance recommended by WHO, resulting in early access to TB prevention and care, and better outcomes. In the African Region, the use of rapid diagnostic testing has increased from 34% in 2020 to 43% in 2021, which will improve countries’ ability to detect and diagnose new cases of the disease.”