Kenya has started to reverse the effects of Covid- 19 on TB services.
New data from the Ministry of Health shows case finding and treatment have improved after a sharp drop in 2020.
Last year, 90,841 people with TB were identified, out of the estimated 112,000.
In 2020 the identified cases had dropped to 72,943 which means more people with TB remained untreated, potentially infecting others.
The figures were released by the National Tuberculosis, Leprosy and Lung Disease Programme (NTLLDP).
The number of people with drug-resistant TB dropped from 957 in 2020 to 756 last year.
Nkirote Mwirigi, national coordinator of the NTLLDP said TB still remains a major public health problem and the fourth leading cause of death in Kenya.
“Kenya is among the 30 high TB, TB/HIV burden countries globally,” she said.
Nkirote spoke in Nairobi at a media briefing organised by the Light Consortium, a research project of the African Institute for Development Policy; and the Media for Environment, Science Health and Agriculture organisation.
A similar trend is being observed globally, according to the World Health Organization.
A WHO report also released on Wednesday, featuring data from 192 countries and areas, shows that 7.5 million people were diagnosed with TB in 2022, making it the highest figure recorded since WHO began global TB monitoring in 1995.
The increase is attributed to good recovery in access to and provision of health services in many countries.
“For millennia, our ancestors suffered and died with tuberculosis, without knowing what it was, what caused it, or how to stop it,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director general. “Today, we have knowledge and tools they could only have dreamed of. We have political commitment, and we have an opportunity that no generation in the history of humanity has had: the opportunity to write the final chapter in the story of TB.”
Globally, an estimated 10.6 million people fell ill with TB in 2022, up from 10.3 million in 2021.
The total number of TB-related deaths was 1.3 million in 2022, down from 1.4 million in 2021. However, during the 2020-2022 period, Covid-19 disruptions resulted in nearly half a million more deaths from TB. TB continues to be the leading killer among people with HIV.
Multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) remains a public health crisis, WHO said. While an estimated 410,000 people developed multidrug-resistant or rifampicin-resistant TB in 2022, only about two in five people accessed treatment.
WHO said global efforts to combat TB have saved over 75 million lives since the year 2000. However, even more efforts are needed as TB remained the world’s second leading infectious killer in 2022.
Despite significant recovery in 2022, progress was insufficient to meet global TB targets set in 2018, with disruptions caused by the pandemic and ongoing conflicts being major contributing factors.
The 2023 UN General Assembly High-Level Meeting on TB reinforced the 2018 commitments and targets, setting out new targets for the period of 2023-2027.
The new targets include reaching 90 per cent of people in need with TB prevention and care services; using a WHO-recommended rapid test as the first method of diagnosing TB; providing a health and social benefit package to all people with TB; ensuring the availability of at least one new TB vaccine that is safe and effective; and closing funding gaps for TB implementation and research by 2027.
“We have strong commitments with concrete targets made by world leaders in the political declaration of the second UN High-Level Meeting on TB, that provides a strong impetus to accelerate the TB response,” said Dr Tereza Kasaeva, Director of WHO’s Global TB Programme.
“This report provides key data and evidence on the status of the TB epidemic and a review of progress, that serves to inform the translation of these targets and commitments into action in countries. We need all hands on deck to make the vision of ending TB a reality.”