229,000 People Diagnosed with Tuberculosis in Europe

According to the WHO Regional Office for Europe and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, an estimated 229,000 people were diagnosed with tuberculosis (TB) in the European Region in 2022.

Of these cases, about 83% were reported with pulmonary TB.

Furthermore, there were approximately 18,000 TB-related deaths among HIV-negative individuals in the European Region in 2022.

This represents a 6% increase in deaths compared to 2021.

In 2022, HIV prevalence in incident TB cases was estimated to be 12%, with an estimated 28,000 cases of co-infection in the Region. 

Also of concern are signs that the management of TB and HIV co-infection is suboptimal. Only 48% of patients with both TB and HIV in the WHO European Region who started TB treatment in 2021 had been cured. 

The TB surveillance and monitoring report published on March 21, 2024, also revealed that nearly 7,000 excess deaths from tuberculosis occurred in the WHO European Region between 2020 and 2022, compared to pre-2020 estimates.

This report stated that increased mortality was a direct result of the recent pandemic and would not have occurred if TB diagnosis and treatment efforts had not been disrupted during the pandemic.

To expedite efforts to reach the end TB targets, WHO and ECDC recommend scaling up initiatives to actively identify and treat missing cases of TB by strengthening TB testing, making preventive treatment options (vaccines) available to all those who need them, and implementing up-to-date, short, and fully oral treatment regimens.

Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge, Regional Director at WHO/Europe, commented in a press release, “The report also reveals another evolving, preventable tragedy - the prevalence of drug-resistant TB continues to rise. We urge national authorities to strengthen TB testing programs, diagnose promptly, and apply the latest WHO guidelines.”

Throughout Europe, versions of the TB-prevention Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine remain available as of March 2024.