World Tuberculosis Day: the vital need for European support
143 years after the discovery of the bacterium that causes tuberculosis (TB), the disease remains a major threat to public health globally, being the deadliest infectious disease with 1.25 million deaths out of 10.8 million cases in 2023. In Europe, one in three people newly diagnosed with TB have multi-drug-resistant TB (MDR-TB), a rate 7 times higher than the global average.
TB is a matter of equity. People with low immunity, with diabetes, living in slums, displaced, detained, undernourished, all have a higher risk of developing TB illness. Children under the age of five, who represented 10% of total TB deaths in 2023, have twice as high a risk of dying of TB as adults. TB is a driver of extreme poverty, with nearly 50% of households affected by TB facing catastrophic medical and non-medical costs and income losses according to WHO.
TB is also a matter of security. Ukraine has the second largest epidemic in Europe after the Russian Federation, and one of the 30 largest MDR-TB epidemics globally. Maintaining service coverage on the frontline and among displaced people supports the resilience of the Ukrainian population through wartime and helps prevent regional spillover. The diagnostics machines, supply chains, primary health care facilities, and community health workers needed to fight TB are the same needed to detect and respond to future respiratory epidemic emergencies. Preserving global health requires having those systems in place in low- and middle-income countries despite resource constraints.
Last February 18, 2025, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria released its investment case for its 8th replenishment of financial resources, co-chaired by South Africa and the United Kingdom. The 8th investment case shows that the international community stands at a turning point. With stable non-GF resources and increased GF resources, the Global Fund could save an additional 23 million lives, prevent 400 million new infections, and reduce the combined mortality rate from the three diseases by 64%. Treatment coverage of TB patients could increase to more than 95% by 2029, and the goal of ending TB as a global public health threat could be attainable by 2035.
Since its creation in 2002, the Global Fund has been at the heart of extraordinary progress in global health. Through the mobilization of USD63 billion and its unique partnership approach, more than 65 million lives have been saved over two decades. The combined mortality rate of AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria has been reduced by 63%, significantly contributing to the reduction of inequalities in global life expectancy and to improvements in access to universal health coverage. In countries where the Global Fund invests, TB deaths have been reduced by 23% since 2015. The Global Fund accounts for 76% of international funding against TB; in countries where the Global Fund invests, TB deaths have been reduced by 23% since 2015.
The goal of ending tuberculosis as a public health threat remains within reach but will require intensified efforts in terms of innovation, partnership, and political and financial support. European countries must support the Global Fund and contribute to its full replenishment.