Axios
WHO: Pandemic is prolonging the countdown to stop tuberculosis
Several organizations, including the World Health Organization, claim that the first data indicate that there may be a significant increase in diseases such as tuberculosis in the coming years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Why it matters: 12 years of progress for global tuberculosis programs have been lost in the past 12 months of the pandemic – putting at risk the goal of eliminating the disease by 2030, say some experts. Stay on top of the latest market trends and economic insights with Axios Markets. Sign up for free What’s happening: Measures taken to mitigate the infectious spread of COVID-19, such as wearing a mask, social distance and disconnections or decreased mobility, have had a mixed impact on other diseases. They led to a drop in other respiratory illnesses, like the flu, but also prevented people from going to doctors and clinics without coronavirus for disease testing and immunizations. The ability to monitor disease in a community is affected if people do not. t go to the clinic for care for fear of getting COVID-19 or because travel is restricted due to roadblocks, says William Moss, executive director of the International Vaccine Access Center at Johns Hopkins University. For example, in Senegal, there was an almost 80% drop in prenatal visits by mothers and children under the age of 5 during the first months of the pandemic, “which was really scary,” said Aminatou Sar, central West Africa and Senegal’s director for the non-profit organization PATH. And the pandemic challenges to programs to combat mosquito-borne diseases, such as malaria and dengue fever, are causing concern, although experts are waiting to see their overall impact. Tuberculosis is likely to increase after the pandemic, the WHO warned this week of World TB Day. Bacterial lung disease, which normally claims about 4,000 lives a day worldwide, probably killed more than half a million people in 2020 because they were unable to receive the care they needed, according to the WHO. “Our time is running out. Time is running out and it is time for urgent action to end tuberculosis,” said Tereza Kasaeva, director of WHO’s global tuberculosis program, at a news conference announcing her preliminary findings. The WHO has also published new guidelines for tuberculosis testing to regularly check those who are at high risk for infection. WHO recommends that COVID-19 and TB testing be conducted at the same time in high-risk countries, said Kasaeva. Between the lines: The average drop of 23% in the diagnosis and treatment of TB patients last year represents a serious problem, as 1 million people not treated with TB in 2020 can lead to about 15 million new infections in 2021, says Lucica Ditiu, executive director of the Stop TB Partnership, which is a UN-sponsored entity. “It’s like a snowball effect.” “1 million [untreated people with TB] it basically takes us to the number we had 12 years ago, “says Ditiu. She expects to see a community-based” explosion “of tuberculosis.” What we already see are more advanced stages of tuberculosis at home, because people don’t want to “go to the hospital,” says Ditiu, leading to an increase in reports of people with lung cavities coughing up blood. Yes, but: A positive result of the pandemic of COVID-19, which forced the use of a mask in healthcare facilities, is “I have no doubt that we will see very few, if any, cases of TB among healthcare professionals in 2020 and 2021 due to the masks,” says Ditiu Meanwhile, the rise in preventable childhood illnesses is also a concern, with WHO and UNICEF issued a call for emergency action to prevent and respond to measles and polio outbreaks last year. 50% in vaccine adoption in some countries during the pandemic crisis, according to the WHO, for example, the CDC warned in April last year that more than 117 million children could lose measles v just acine – a disease that had already presented a 556% increase in c from 2016 to 2019, with deaths rising 50% in that period. “We are very afraid that when we deal with this pandemic, there will be a huge setback in progress we have already made in other areas,” Sar told Axios. However, she adds that “it is never too late” to catch up on vaccination schedules and promote a stronger health system to prepare for the next pandemic. The mRNA vaccine technology that underpins some COVID-19 vaccines is being used to develop vaccines against tuberculosis. And the TB Alliance says there have been unprecedented advances in testing clinicians of a new treatment regimen for drug-resistant tuberculosis Go deeper: Vaccinations are plummeting in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. Disrupting the pandemic from essential health procedures can be deadly. the latest market trends with Axios Markets. Sign up for free