Prime Highlights
- WHO warns South-East Asia is unlikely to meet the 2025 End TB milestones without intensified efforts, despite progress in reducing cases over the past decade.
- Officials stress that early testing, rapid treatment, and strong primary healthcare systems are crucial to controlling TB and saving lives.
Key Facts
- In 2024, South-East Asia accounted for more than one-third of global new TB cases, with drug-resistant TB reaching around 150,000 cases.
- The Region’s TB incidence has dropped 16% since 2015 but remains high at 201 cases per 100,000 people, well above the global average.
Background
The World Health Organization (WHO) has urged countries in South-East Asia to speed up their fight against tuberculosis, saying the Region is unlikely to meet the 2025 End TB milestones unless efforts increase. The warning comes even as the Region has made progress in reducing TB cases over the past decade.
WHO’s Global Tuberculosis Report 2025 shows that 10.7 million people worldwide got TB in 2024, and 1.23 million died from it. South-East Asia, which has less than a quarter of the world’s population, accounts for more than one-third of all new TB cases each year. WHO also reported that drug-resistant TB continues to rise, with about 150,000 cases in 2024.
The Region has cut TB incidence by 16% since 2015, but this improvement is not enough. The current TB rate, 201 cases per 100,000 people, remains far above the global average. WHO officials warn that TB deaths are not falling quickly enough, despite strong treatment success rates and expanded preventive therapy.
Dr. Catharina Boehme, WHO South-East Asia’s Officer-in-Charge, said that early testing, quick treatment, and strong primary healthcare systems are key to stopping TB. She called for more political support and financial investment to speed up progress.
The TB burden differs across the region. Myanmar and Timor-Leste still have some of the highest rates in the world, while Sri Lanka and the Maldives have low rates. India reported the highest number of cases overall.
Challenges like undernutrition, diabetes, and financial pressure on families continue to block progress. WHO urged countries to protect essential TB services, strengthen social support, and use digital tools to improve detection and treatment.
Dr. Boehme said the Region has shown progress before and must now “act decisively” to end TB.
