The WHO South-East Asia Region continues to bear a disproportionately high burden of tuberculosis (TB), remaining one of the most affected regions in the world. It accounts for around 34% of all global TB cases and nearly 40% of TB-related deaths. In 2024 alone, an estimated 3.68 million people in the region developed TB, while approximately 433,000 people lost their lives to the disease, including 13,000 people living with HIV. These figures highlight the scale of the challenge and the urgent need for stronger action.
This year’s World TB Day theme, “Yes! We Can End TB,” underscores the message that ending TB is achievable if political commitment, scientific innovation, and community leadership come together. The theme serves as both a call to action and a reminder that progress is possible when governments, health systems, and communities work in a coordinated and sustained way.
The region has made notable progress in recent years. Since 2015, South-East Asia has recorded a 23% reduction in TB deaths and a 16% decline in TB incidence, outperforming the global average decline of 12%. Treatment coverage has also expanded significantly, exceeding 85%, with more than 3.1 million people started on TB treatment in 2024. Countries in the region have also maintained treatment success rates above the global average, including for drug-resistant TB, while continuing to expand preventive treatment for people living with HIV and household contacts of TB patients.
National TB programmes across the region are strengthening their services by integrating TB care into primary health care and broader universal health coverage systems. Countries are also increasingly using data, innovation, and targeted outreach to identify and support people who are still being missed by traditional health systems. These achievements reflect the ongoing efforts of governments, healthcare workers, communities, and development partners working together to improve TB prevention, diagnosis, and treatment.
Despite this progress, the region is still not on track to meet the global End TB targets. Drug-resistant TB remains a major concern, with an estimated 150,000 multidrug-resistant or rifampicin-resistant TB cases reported each year in the region. In addition, social and economic factors continue to drive transmission, particularly undernutrition and diabetes, which remain major risk factors. The financial burden is also severe, with 44% of TB-affected households facing catastrophic costs due to the disease.
To accelerate progress, WHO says the region must focus on reducing TB incidence and deaths more quickly, especially in high-burden areas, through integrated and people-centred approaches within primary health care systems. It also stresses the need to close detection and treatment gaps, especially for drug-resistant TB, by ensuring universal access to rapid diagnostic tools and shorter, more effective treatment regimens.
WHO further emphasizes the importance of addressing the social and economic drivers of TB, including poor nutrition, diabetes, and HIV, which continue to fuel the spread of the disease. The organization also highlights the potential of new technologies, including artificial intelligence, to expand access to quality TB care and ensure that no one is left behind.
On World TB Day, WHO is calling for stronger national leadership, sustained investment, and continued community engagement to intensify the fight against TB. While the progress made in South-East Asia is encouraging, the message is clear that much more must be done to end TB and protect vulnerable populations across the region.
