Tuberculosis at a crossroads

This World Tuberculosis Day, as ever, the world has everything it needs to end tuberculosis in our lifetimes. Yet in 2024, 1·23 million people died of tuberculosis, indicating that tuberculosis persists as the world's deadliest infectious disease. 10·7 million people developed active tuberculosis disease, up from 10·3 million in 2020. With recent cuts in development assistance, there is a serious risk of backsliding on a solvable issue, with one estimate attributing a potential 606 900 additional tuberculosis deaths between 2025 and 2030 across 55 countries directly to the cuts.