On Oct. 14, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, many countries were making steady progress in tackling tuberculosis (TB), with a 9% reduction in incidence seen between 2015 and 2019 and a 14% drop in deaths in the same period.

High-level political commitments at global and national levels were delivering results. However, a new report from WHO showed that access to TB services remains a challenge, and that global targets for prevention and treatment will likely be missed without urgent action and investments. Approximately 1.4 million people died from TB-related illnesses in 2019.