To provide focus for global action on Tuberculosis (TB), HIV-associated TB (TB/HIV) and drug-resistant TB (DR-TB) WHO publishes and updates a list of High Burden Countries (HBC) for TB. Inclusion of countries in this list enhances political commitment and funding at national level.
In June 2021, WHO updated the lists for high burden countries. These countries are listed on this page under the three categories: TB, TB/HIV and DR-TB. Each category includes 30 countries* which represent 86-90% of the global TB, TB/HIV, DR-TB burden respectively. The total countries in all three lists add up to 51 as some of the countries are there in multiple lists. These lists are valid until 2025.
The three lists, of 30 countries each, are all defined in the same way:
- the top 20 countries in terms of their estimated absolute number of new (incident) cases in 2019; plus
- the 10 countries with the most severe burden in terms of the incidence rate (new cases per 100 000 population in 2019) that are not already in the top 20, and that meet a minimum threshold in terms of their absolute number of cases (10 000 new cases per year for TB; and 1000 new cases per year for HIV-associated TB and rifampicin-resistant TB).