The Regional Director for Africa, World Health Organisation, Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, said about 2.5 million individuals contracted Tuberculosis in 2022 in Africa, equating to one person every 13 seconds.
Moeti also said the number of TB deaths in 2022 reached 424,000, resulting in the loss of one life every minute – even when TB is preventable and treatable.
She said this in her message to commemorate the World TB Day.
World Tuberculosis Day is marked on March 24 every year to create awareness about the impact of the disease.
According to the WHO, TB is a disease caused by a bacterium (Mycobacterium tuberculosis) that often affects the lungs.
The disease is spread through the air when people with lung TB cough, sneeze or spit. A person needs to inhale only a few germs to become infected.
WHO said a total of 1.3m people died from TB in 2022, including 167,000 people with HIV. Globally, TB is the second leading infectious killer after COVID-19 (above HIV and AIDS).