The World Health Organization called for urgent and sustained action to reverse the spread of tuberculosis across the Eastern Mediterranean Region as countries marked World Tuberculosis Day 2026 under the theme Yes we can end TB, led by countries and powered by people.
According to WHO, Tuberculosis remains one of the most serious public health threats in the region. In 2024 alone, about 920,000 new infections were recorded and nearly 85,000 people lost their lives. One third of all cases are never detected, especially in fragile and high burden countries including Djibouti, Somalia, Sudan, Libya, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. On average, one person falls ill with TB every 34 seconds, while another dies from the disease every six minutes.
Too many patients are diagnosed late or never diagnosed at all, said WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean Dr Hanan Balkhy in a press re;ease marking the day, warning that gaps in services and interruptions in treatment continue to drive transmission and drug resistance. She added that the cost of care often forces affected families into severe financial hardship.
Serious gaps remain across all stages of prevention and treatment. Only about 30 percent of estimated drug resistant cases receive proper therapy, and fewer than one in four patients benefit from shorter oral treatment regimens. Preventive treatment coverage is also very low among household contacts and people living with HIV, leaving many at risk of developing the disease.
Loss to follow up remains a major challenge, contributing to drug resistance and slowing progress. Limited access to healthcare services continues to affect the most vulnerable communities, while many patients and their families face catastrophic costs in order to receive diagnosis and treatment.
Despite these difficulties, health officials point to signs of progress. Between 2020 and 2024, more than 2.8 million people in the region were diagnosed and successfully treated for tuberculosis, with treatment success rates exceeding 90 percent. This helped reduce the overall burden of the disease, but experts warn that these gains remain fragile.
Dr Balkhy stressed that without sustained investment and stronger accountability, progress could quickly be reversed. The latest global tuberculosis report shows that although the burden of the disease is declining and new tools for testing and treatment are becoming available, the pace of improvement is still too slow to meet international targets.
The theme of this year’s campaign is intended as both a warning and a message of hope. Health officials say ending tuberculosis is possible if countries show strong leadership, increase national funding, adopt new recommendations quickly, and strengthen cooperation between governments, communities, and international partners.
Without urgent action, experts warn that more people will fall ill, more lives will be lost, and years of progress could disappear, pushing elimination goals further out of reach.
On World Tuberculosis Day 2026, the World Health Organization urged governments, partners, and civil society groups across the Eastern Mediterranean Region to intensify awareness campaigns, expand prevention and treatment services, and renew their commitment to ending tuberculosis once and for all.
New WHO recommendations aim to improve access to diagnosis and help countries find the missing millions of people living with tuberculosis. These include expanding the use of rapid molecular tests close to the point of care, introducing tongue swab samples as an easier alternative for testing, and using pooled sputum testing to increase efficiency and reduce costs.
Health experts believe these innovations could make a major difference, especially in areas with limited laboratory capacity, by allowing earlier detection and faster treatment and helping countries move closer to eliminating the disease.
Tuberculosis is an infectious disease caused by bacteria that usually affect the lungs but can also damage other parts of the body. It spreads through the air when an infected person coughs, sneezes, speaks, or sings. Although about a quarter of the world’s population carries the bacteria in a latent form, only active pulmonary tuberculosis can be transmitted to others.
Short link: