Victorian-era disease becomes 'world's top killer' as urgent plea issued
manchestereveningnews.co.ukA disease prominent during the Victorian era has become the world's 'top infectious disease killer', world health agencies have said.
More than eight million people were diagnosed with tuberculosis last year, the World Health Organisation said, the highest number recorded since the UN health agency began keeping track.
About 1.25 million people died of TB last year, the new report said. It added that TB likely returned to being the world’s top infectious disease killer after being replaced by Covid-19 during the pandemic.
The deaths are almost double the number of people killed by HIV in 2023. WHO said TB continues to mostly affect people in south-east Asia, Africa and the Western Pacific; India, Indonesia, China, the Philippines and Pakistan account for more than half of the world’s cases.
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