WHO Urges Action Amid Global TB Service Crisis

The World Health Organization is warning that abrupt cuts in global health funding are severely disrupting tuberculosis care services, putting millions of lives at risk and threatening to reverse two decades of hard-won progress.

In a statement released ahead of World Tuberculosis Day on March 24, WHO called for urgent investment and coordinated action to protect and expand access to TB prevention, diagnosis and treatment services. Tuberculosis remains the world’s deadliest infectious disease, killing more than 1 million people annually.

“The huge gains the world has made against TB over the past 20 years are now at risk as cuts to funding start to disrupt access to services for prevention, screening, and treatment for people with TB,” said WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “But we cannot give up on the concrete commitments that world leaders made at the UN General Assembly just 18 months ago to accelerate work to end TB.”

According to WHO, global efforts since 2000 have saved an estimated 79 million lives. But these advances are being jeopardized by widespread funding shortfalls, conflicts across regions including Eastern Europe and the Middle East, and a rise in drug-resistant TB.

Twenty-seven countries have reported major breakdowns in their TB response following the 2025 funding cuts. The WHO African Region is facing the most severe consequences, followed by countries in the South-East Asian and Western Pacific regions.

Among the most critical disruptions are shortages in medical personnel, failures in diagnostic services, breakdowns in data tracking, and declines in community engagement efforts such as case finding and contact tracing. In nine countries, supply chains for TB drugs have faltered, risking treatment interruptions.

WHO data shows the global TB response was already underfunded before the 2025 crisis. In 2023, only 26% of the US$22 billion needed annually was available. TB research is in even deeper crisis: in 2022, it received only 20% of the targeted US$5 billion needed to develop diagnostics, treatments and vaccines.

Dr. Tereza Kasaeva, director of WHO’s Global Programme on TB and Lung Health, said urgent financial commitments are essential.

“This urgent call is timely and underscores the necessity of swift, decisive action to sustain global TB progress and prevent setbacks that could cost lives,” Kasaeva said. “Investing in ending TB is not only a moral imperative but also an economic necessity—every dollar spent on prevention and treatment yields an estimated US$43 in economic returns.”

To address the crisis, WHO and its Civil Society Task Force on Tuberculosis issued a joint statement outlining five priorities, including urgent restoration of TB services, securing sustainable domestic funding, and improving collaboration among governments, NGOs and donors.

WHO is also pushing for the integration of TB and broader lung health care into primary health systems. New technical guidance released this month encourages early detection and integrated care for TB and comorbidities, while promoting efficient use of existing resources.

The strategy targets root causes such as tobacco use, undernutrition, air pollution and overcrowding—factors that not only worsen TB but also drive a broader burden of respiratory diseases.

This year’s World TB Day campaign theme, Yes! We Can End TB: Commit, Invest, Deliver, underscores the urgency and optimism WHO is trying to rally amid growing challenges.

“WHO is committed to working with all donors, partners and affected countries to mitigate the impact of funding cuts and find innovative solutions,” Dr. Tedros said.