The World Health Organization (WHO) has raised the alarm about soaring cases of tuberculosis (TB) around the world.

Last year, more than eight million people were newly diagnosed with the condition, the highest number since they began monitoring in 1995, WHO said.

While TB-related deaths did fall last year from 1.32 million to 1.25 million the total number of people falling ill rose, a report said.

It means the world is not on track for international targets to reduce the burden of TB by 2027 and elimination by 2035.

There is also ongoing concern about multidrug-resistant TB which WHO described as a ‘public health crisis’.

Treatment success rates for multidrug-resistant or rifampicin-resistant TB have now reached 68%.

But, of the 400 000 people estimated to have developed it, only 44% were diagnosed and treated in 2023, the report found.

Global funding for TB prevention and care decreased further in 2023 and remains far below target, it added with low- and middle-income countries bearing 98% of the TB burden.

India (26%), Indonesia (10%), China (6.8%), the Philippines (6.8%) and Pakistan (6.3%) together accounted for 56% of the global TB burden, it said.

Earlier this year, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said it was investigating an 11% rise in TB cases in England.

There were 4,850 tuberculosis cases in 2023 compared to 4,380 in 2022, representing a jump of 10.7%, according to provisional data.

Even before the Covid-19 pandemic, TB incidence was lower than this, with 4,615 cases in 2018 and 4,725 cases in 2019, UKHSA figures showed.

Some of the increase related to people born outside the UK but in 2023 the rise was also seen in UK-born individuals, they noted.

At the time, UKHSA head of the TB Unit Dr Esther Robinson encouraged people to speak to their GP if they have a cough with mucus that lasts longer than three weeks, as she warned this is not necessarily caused by Covid or flu and could be TB.

Speaking on the findings of the WHO report, Dr Tereza Kasaeva, director of WHO’s Global Tuberculosis Programme said there was a multitude of formidable challenges including ‘funding shortfalls and catastrophic financial burden on those affected, climate change, conflict, migration and displacement, pandemics, and drug-resistant tuberculosis, a significant driver of antimicrobial resistance’.

WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus added. ‘The fact that TB still kills and sickens so many people is an outrage, when we have the tools to prevent it, detect it and treat it.’

Dr Esther Robinson, Head of the TB Unit at UKHSA, said: ‘TB is curable and preventable, but the disease remains a serious public health issue in the UK.

‘It is very important that those with relevant symptoms are tested for TB and appropriate treatment is started promptly. Not every persistent cough, along with a fever, is caused by flu or COVID-19.

‘A cough that usually has mucus and lasts longer than three weeks can be caused by a range of other issues, including TB. Please speak to your GP if you think you could be at risk.’

This article first appeared on our sister site Pulse.