WHO: Tuberculosis Infecting More People Worldwide

A recent report by the World Health Organization (WHO) says the number of people infected with tuberculosis¹ increased worldwide.

The United Nations health agency said more than 10 million people around the world became sick with tuberculosis (TB) in 2021. That is a 4.5 percent increase from the year before. About 1.6 million people died, WHO said. It added that about 450,000 cases involved people infected with drug-resistant TB, 3 percent more than in 2020.

Dr. Mel Spigelman is president of the non-profit group TB Alliance. Spigelman said more than 10 years of progress was lost when COVID-19 appeared in 2020.

He said that although there were gains in some areas "we are still behind in just about every...goal regarding TB."

WHO also blamed COVID-19 for much of the rise in TB, saying the pandemic "continues to have a damaging" effect "on access to TB diagnosis² and treatment." It said progress made before 2019 has since slowed, stopped, or moved back.

With fewer people being diagnosed with the highly infectious disease, more patients unknowingly spread tuberculosis.

WHO also said COVID-19 restrictions³, including lockdowns and physical distancing, also limited TB treatment services. Such restrictions may have caused some people to not go to health centers for fear of catching⁴ coronavirus.

Officials added that issues in the global economy also caused problems. About half of all TB patients and their families face high costs for their treatments. WHO called for more countries to cover all TB diagnosis and treatment costs.

After COVID-19, TB is the world's deadliest infectious disease. It is caused by bacteria that usually affect the lungs. The germs are mostly spread from person to person in the air, such as when an infected person coughs.

TB mostly affects adults, especially those who do not have enough food or have other health conditions like HIV. More than 95 percent of TB cases are in developing countries.

A WHO report said only one in three people with drug-resistant TB are receiving treatment.

Dr. Hannah Spencer is with Doctors Without Borders in South Africa. Spencer said, "Drug-resistant TB is curable, but alarmingly, cases are on the rise for the first time in years." She added, "It's urgent that shorter, safer and more effective treatments are scaled up now."

Spencer called for lowering the price of TB treatments so a complete treatment costs no more than $500.

WHO also said conflicts in Eastern Europe, Africa and the Middle East have worsened the choices for patients seeking TB diagnosis and treatment.

Ukraine had one of the world's worst TB epidemics⁶ even before Russia invaded the country in February. Health experts fear the inability of patients to get treated could fuel the rise of more drug-resistant TB across Ukraine and surrounding countries.

While TB patients can seek care in Ukraine, the country has seen a shortage of important medicines. Officials also have a hard time following the progress of patients.

Words in This Story

diagnosis – n. the act of identifying a disease, illness, or problem by examining someone or something

cough –n. the reaction of forcing air quickly from your through usually from sickness in the lungs

scale up –v. (phrasal) to increase the size, amount, or extent of something

epidemic⁵ –n. a situation where an infectious disease spreads quickly among a population

shortage – n. a state in which there is not enough of something that is needed

1 tuberculosis   

n.结核病，肺结核

参考例句：

• People used to go to special health spring to recover from tuberculosis.人们常去温泉疗养胜地治疗肺结核。
• Tuberculosis is a curable disease.肺结核是一种可治愈的病。

2 diagnosis   

n.诊断，诊断结果，调查分析，判断

参考例句：

• His symptoms gave no obvious pointer to a possible diagnosis.他的症状无法作出明确的诊断。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做一次彻底的调查分析。

3 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

4 catching   

adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住

参考例句：

• There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
• Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。

5 epidemic   

n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的

参考例句：

• That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
• The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。

6 epidemics   

n．流行病

参考例句：

• Reliance upon natural epidemics may be both time-consuming and misleading. 依靠天然的流行既浪费时间，又会引入歧途。
• The antibiotic epidemics usually start stop when the summer rainy season begins. 传染病通常会在夏天的雨季停止传播。