The World Health Organization (WHO) has confirmed that the number of deaths from tuberculosis has risen in Europe, after two decades of uninterrupted decline. According to the latest data, the lung disease killed 27,300 people in 2021 compared to 27,000 the previous year.
The two most affected countries are Ukraine and Russia, with an estimated 4,900 and 3,600 deaths respectively. A figure on the rise according to the WHO due to a relaxation of diagnoses during the confinements linked to Covid-19 as well as the spread of tuberculosis resistant to an antibiotic indicated against the disease.
First time in twenty years that the downward trend has reversed
Across the 53 countries of the WHO Europe zone which also covers Central Asia, some 230,000 people have contracted tuberculosis, caused by a bacterium that mainly attacks the lungs – a total which remains down from compared to previous years. According to the World Health Organization, this is the first time in twenty years that the downward trend has reversed.
WHO Europe told AFP that “The increase in TB deaths we are seeing in 2021 is most likely the result of delayed or missed TB diagnosis due to disruption of services (…) during the Covid-19 pandemic”.
In addition, the prevalence of drug-resistant tuberculosis has also increased significantly, with one in three cases of rifampicin-resistant tuberculosis in 2021.