The new figures for TB patients surprised even the WHO, these 5 countries including India have more cases.
Shocking figures have emerged regarding tuberculosis. Last year i.e. in 2023, 80 lakh people were infected with this disease. The World Health Organization (WHO) gave this information. WHO was also shocked to see these figures. It has been said that this is the highest number to date.
What did the report say?
The report said that about 1.25 million people died of TB last year. These deaths are almost double the number of people killed by HIV in 2023. WHO said that TB is most affecting people in Southeast Asia, Africa, and Western Pacific region. More than half of the world's cases are in India, Indonesia, China, Philippines, and Pakistan.
"The fact is that TB still kills and sickens so many people. We have the tools to prevent, detect, and treat it," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement. Globally, however, TB deaths continue to decline and the number of people newly infected has begun to stabilise.
What is TB?
TB is a type of infectious disease that occurs in the lungs. This disease is caused by a bacterium called Mycobacterium tuberculosis. It spreads from one person to another through small particles of cough and sneeze spread in the air. Its symptoms are difficult to recognize in the beginning. Many medicines and antibiotics are available in the market for its treatment.
In this disease, the patient may have cough for more than 3 months. Along with this, other problems like fever, chills, body pain can also occur.