NEWS RELEASE: Canada is not immune to the devastating impact of COVID-19 on global tuberculosis care
The world is seeing Tuberculosis (TB) deaths increase for the first time in over a decade, WHO reports in the Global TB Report 2021 launched yesterday. It is devastating that this preventable & curable infection killed 1.5 million people in 2020. As a new report from Stop TB Canada launching on October 22nd will show, the pandemic has exacted a serious toll on TB care in Canada as well.
The WHO estimates that almost 10 million people developed TB in 2020. Of these, only 5.8 million people were diagnosed and reported, reflecting a 18% decline, back to the level of 2012. In Canada we also see devastating impacts on the TB healthcare system. In the last week alone we have seen two TB outbreaks in Saskatchewan (CBC news story and Global News). Like COVID-19, TB is an airborne respiratory infectious disease and is the second deadliest infectious killer in the world (after COVID-19).
The report launched on 22 October by the Stop TB Canada Network, reveals findings from a survey initiative seeking to understand the impact of the pandemic on TB programs in Canada. Healthcare workers typically engaged in the response to TB, as well as people affected by TB across Canada reported diagnostic delays and individuals presenting with more advanced disease, large-scale diversions of TB staff to COVID-19 work, significant disruptions to active case finding, contact tracing and LTBI management, and declines in quality of TB care during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Find the full report here to learn more. Findings suggest alarming setbacks for efforts to end TB in Canada (see one of five main findings below).
People and communities affected by TB have long deserved better and are voicing their needs loud and clear. Yet there is little outcry. The pandemic combined with low political will and appallingly low levels of funding have reversed hard-fought gains in the fight against this age-old disease. The biggest priority now, at home and around the world, is to urgently restore access to and provision of essential TB services. Centering equity and antiracism as part of refocused TB mitigation plans is key.