WHO’s "Global Tuberculosis Report 2014" shows that 9 million people developed TB in 2013, that there are almost half a million more cases of the disease than previously estimated and that 1.5 million died, including 360 000 people who were HIV positive.

The report stresses, however, that the mortality rate from TB is still falling and has dropped by 45% since 1990, while the number of people developing the disease is declining by an average 1.5% a year.

The multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) crisis continues, with an estimated 480 000 new cases in 2013. Worldwide, about 3.5% of all people who developed TB in 2013 had this form of the disease, which is much harder to treat and has significantly poorer cure rates.
While the estimated percentage of new TB cases that have MDR-TB globally remains unchanged, there are severe epidemics in some regions, particularly in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

In many settings around the world, the treatment success rate is alarmingly low. Furthermore, extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB), which is even more expensive and difficult to treat than MDR-TB, has now been reported in 100 countries.

A special supplement to this year’s WHO report marks 20 years of anti-TB drug-resistance surveillance. It outlines the MDR-TB response to-date and the priority actions that must now be taken from prevention to cure. Anti-TB drug-resistance surveillance has been a pathfinder in global efforts against antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

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WHO - World Health Organisation

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