TB Facts & Figures
10 key TB Facts
- TB is contagious and spreads through the air; if not treated, each person with active TB infects on average 10 to 15 people every year
- More than 2 billion people, equal to one-third of the world's total population, are infected with TB bacilli, the microbes that cause TB
- Globally, TB affects about 9 million people each year, killing about 2 million
- TB is a disease of poverty; nearly all TB deaths occur in the developing world, affecting young adults in their most productive years
- TB is a leading killer among HIV-infected people with weakened immune systems. HIV-positive people who are infected with TB are up to 50 times more likely to develop active TB in their lifetime than people who are HIV-negative
- More than half of all TB deaths occur in Asia. A quarter of a million TB deaths are HIV-associated
- Global TB incidence is still growing at 1% a year because of the rapid increase in Africa; intense control efforts are helping incidence fall/stabilize in other regions
- Nearly 4 out of 10 TB cases globally are still not being properly detected/treated
- Multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) is a form of TB that is difficult and expensive to treat and fails to respond to standard first line drugs. Every year, an estimated 490,000 new MDR-TB cases occur causing more than 130,000 deaths. WHO reported in 2008 the highest rates of MDR-TB ever recorded with peaks up to 22% of new TB cases in some settings of the former Soviet Union
- Extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB) occurs when resistance to second-line drugs develops on top of MDR-TB. XDR-TB is virtually untreatable. There are an estimated 40,000 new XDR-TB cases annually
GDF Facts and Figures
- Years of existence: 8
- Total funds raised for GDF operations: $268 million
- Number of patient treatments supplied to date: 13,910,758
- Number of countries that have received first-line drug deliveries: 88
- Number of countries that have received second-line deliveries: 42
- Number of High Burden Countries that received drugs through a Grant or Direct Procurement Service: 17
- Number of countries that have received diagnostic kits deliveries: 17
- Number of countries receiving GDF drugs: 93
- Number of Technical assistance missions conducted: 334
- Duration of GDF grants: 3 years (renewable)
- Number of Global Fund recipients that have used GDF's services: 50
- Average cost to treat a patient infected with drug-sensitive TB: $22.40
- GDF's operational costs (as percentage of funding): 5
- Primary funders of GDF grants and DP drug orders: UNITAID and The Global Fund
Last updated: July 2009
Please email us at gdf@who.int for the most recent facts and figures, or for further information on GDF, check out these online brochures:
For further information on the GDF check out these online brochures:
More TB information
Latest TB trends (Figures and articles)
Science Daily: http://www.sciencedaily.com/articles/health_medicine/tuberculosis/
Medline Plus: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/tuberculosis.html#cat57
WHO Global TB database
Access the database to make data queries, interactive maps and country profiles:
http://www.who.int/globalatlas/dataQuery/default.asp
Data query: query the database for the following data and view tables, which can be exported to MS Excel.
- Estimated TB incidence (1990-2006)
- Estimated TB prevalence (MDG indicator 23) (1990-2006)
- Estimated TB deaths (MDG indicator 23) (1990-2006)
- DOTS population coverage (1995-2006)
- Reported TB cases (1995-2006)
- Case detection rate (MDG indicator 24) (1995-2006)
- Treatment success (MDG indicator 24) (1994-2005)
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