Children under 15 accounted for 4.3 per cent of new and relapsed cases of tuberculosis in the WHO’s European region in 2023, 10 per cent more than in the previous 12 months, a report said on Monday.

More than 172,000 people overall were reported to have new and relapsed cases of the disease in the 53 countries, including several in central Asia, that make up the World Health Organization region.

The number was similar to 2022 levels but in the European Union/European Economic Area nearly 37,000 people were diagnosed — 2,000 more than the previous year, WHO Europe and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said.

Children under 15 years also accounted for 4.3 per cent of all TB cases in the EU/EEA, “signifying an increase for the third year in a row”, the health bodies said in a statement.

The findings of the report show that the spread of TB is “still ongoing” in the region, with the health agencies noting that “immediate public health measures are needed to control and reduce the growing TB burden”.

“Ending TB is not a dream. It’s a choice. Sadly, the current TB burden and the worrying rise in children with TB serves as a reminder that progress against this preventable and curable disease remains fragile,” WHO regional director Hans Kluge said in a statement.

Kluge added that “even before the recent cuts to international development aid, the world was facing an $11 billion shortfall in the global TB response”.



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