GENEVA (AP) — The number of people infected with tuberculosis, including the kind resistant to drugs, rose globally for the first time in years, according to a report issued Thursday by the World Health Organization.
The WHO said more than 10 million people worldwide were sickened by tuberculosis in 2021, a 4.5% rise from the year before.
About 1.6 million people died, it said.
WHO said about 450,000 cases involved people infected with drug-resistant TB, 3% more than in 2020.
The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted services for people with TB along with many other health programmes.
WHO said many people went undiagnosed, noting that the number of people newly identified with TB fell from 7 million in 2019 to 5.8 million in 2020.
Dr Mel Spigelman, president of the non-profit TB Alliance, said more than a decade of progress was lost in 2020.
“Despite gains in areas like preventative therapy, we are still behind in just about every pledge and goal regarding TB,” Spigelman said.
After COVID-19, TB is the world’s deadliest infectious disease. It is caused by bacteria that typically affect the lungs.
The germs are mostly spread from person to person in the air, such as when an infected individual coughs or sneezes.