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News|Articles|November 24, 2025

WHO Reports Declines in TB Incidence and Drug-Resistant TB

Fewer people are falling ill with TB, and fewer with drug-resistant illness according to the 2025 WHO Global Tuberculosis Report.

Although progress toward the WHO End TB strategy fell short of established targets and the contributions by international donors were less than committed, the WHO 2025 Global Tuberculosis Report, released in November, related that incident rates of TB and treatment resistant TB have declined since 2015.1-2

The number of TB incident cases reported globally decreased in 2024 for the first time since 2020, following 3 consecutive years of increases (attributed to COVID-related disruptions to TB diagnosis and treatment).The report documents a small reduction from 10.8 million (95% Uncertainty Interval [UI] 10.0-11.6 million) in 2023 to 10.7 million (9.9-11.5 million) in 2024.Both years were higher than 2020, with an estimated 10.3 million (9.6-11 million) cases.

The global burden is not evenly shared, with 87% of those who developed TB in 2024 concentrated in 30 countries.67% of TB cases were reported in 8 countries: India (25%), Indonesia (10%), the Philippines (6.8%), China (6.5%), Pakistan (6.3%), Nigeria (4.8%), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (3.9%) and Bangladesh (3.6%)

Although TB can affect anyone at any age, the report found a higher share of TB cases among men. In 2024, there were an estimated 5.8 million cases (4.2-7.4 million) among adult men (aged ≥15 years), or 54% of estimated total.There were 3.7 million estimated cases (35%) among adult women.Children and young adolescents comprised an estimated 11% of the total.

Persons living with HIV comprised 5.8% of all TB cases in 2024, a decrease from 6.1% in 2023.The report notes that this proportion has been steadily declining, from a peak of 17% in 2000. The highest incidence of new TB in persons with HIV was in Africa, with the rate exceeding 50% in parts of southern Africa.

There was also a trend of fewer cases of TB resistant to rifampicin (RR-TB), as well as of multidrug resistance (MDR-TB) to rifampicin and isoniazid.The report indicates that the estimated number of people contracting RR-TB or MDR-TB has been falling since 2015.The estimated 3.2% (2.5-3.9) with first episode TB that was treatment resistant in 2024 had declined from 4. 7% (3.5-6.0) in 2015.

What You Need to Know

Global TB incidence and deaths are declining, with 2024 marking the first drop in new TB cases since the COVID-related setbacks of 2020–2022 and a third consecutive annual decrease in TB-related deaths.

The burden of TB remains highly concentrated and uneven, with 87% of all cases occurring in 30 countries—led by India, Indonesia, and the Philippines—and men disproportionately affected compared with women and children.

Drug-resistant TB has steadily decreased since 2015, but progress toward End TB Strategy goals remains far off target, highlighting urgent needs for new vaccines, rapid diagnostics, and simpler treatment regimens.

Expectedly, the incidence of treatment resistant TB was higher among those with a previous history of TB: 16% (8.3-23) in 2024, compared to 19% (10-28) in 2015.Four countries accounted for more than half of those with resistant TB in 2024: India (32%), China (7.1%), the Philippines (7.1%) and the Russian Federation (6.7%).

The estimated global number of TB-related deaths was also found to have declined for a third consecutive year in 2024, reversing the increases during the COVID-related disruptions in diagnosis and treatment in 2020 and 2021.In 2024, there was an estimated 1.23 million (1.13-1.33) TB-related deaths, down from 1.27 million (1.17-1.38) in 2019 (pre-pandemic) and 2.13 million (1.91-2.35 million) in 2010.

The report notes that global trends in number of TB-related deaths differ by HIV status, but with a multi-year declining trend in both HIV-positive and negative persons.TB-related deaths among people with HIV in 2024 had fallen by 76% from 2010. The report credits global coverage for antiretroviral therapy (ART) for people living with HIV, and finds ART was provided to 91% of those newly diagnosed with TB, up from 88% in 2023.

The report warns that the total 12% reduction in TB incidence achieved between 2015 and 2024 falls far short of the 2025 milestone of 50% set in the End TB Strategy, and places research on new vaccines among the highest priorities to achieve target reductions.

Developments in medical technology prioritized in the report include "new vaccines to reduce the risk of infection, new vaccines or preventive drug treatments to reduce the risk of TB disease in people already infected; rapid diagnostic tests for accurate detection of TB disease at the point of care; and simpler, shorter treatments of TB disease."

Check out part-1 of this article here.

Reference
1. World Health Organization (WHO).The End TB Strategy. August 16, 2015. https://www.who.int/teams/global-programme-on-tuberculosis-and-lung-health/the-end-tb-strategy
2. WHO. Global Tuberculosis Report 2025. November 12, 2025. https://www.who.int/teams/global-programme-on-tuberculosis-and-lung-health/tb-reports

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