Burden of Tuberculosis in Different Countries

Dear Colleagues,

According to the 2023 World Health Organization (WHO) Annual Tuberculosis (TB) Report, an estimated 10.6 million individuals (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 9.9-11.4 million) fell ill with TB in 2022. Most TB cases were in the South-East Asian (46%), African (23%) and Western Pacific (18%) WHO regions with corresponding incidence rates of 234/100,000 (95% UI 211-258/100,000), 208/100,000 (95% UI 184-233/100,000) and 96/100,000 (95% UI 75-120/100,000). The estimated 10.6 million people who fell ill is more than in 2021 (10.3 million, 95% UI 9.6-11 million) and in 2020 (10.0 million, 95% UI 9.4-10.7 million), with a concomitant increase in the TB incidence rate by 1.9% from 2020-2021 and 2021-2022. These estimated increases are attributable to the disruptive effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on TB diagnosis and treatment albeit the fact that COVID-related restrictions impacted on TB transmission. Reductions in TB transmission were estimated in dynamic models to be around 50% during lockdowns.

The severity of national TB epidemics, when measured in terms of incidence rates, varies across countries; the African region generally has the highest incidence rates per country. In addition, the proportion of new or relapse TB cases (i.e., patients with a new episode of TB) co-infected with HIV is highest in the African region, in some places exceeding 50% (southern Africa). This Special Issue focuses on the burden of TB in different countries with a special focus on areas where the incidence rate or other measures of burden is high per se, or in comparison to other districts, regions or areas close by. Although articles regarding large geographical areas with high measures of burden will be welcomed, we are particularly interested in more nuanced reports of smaller, well-defined places with high burdens, and the hypotheses/evidence around reasons why. A broad range of research methodologies will be accepted, including qualitative, epidemiology, operational, implementation, modelling, and policy research, as well as other relevant approaches.

Dr. Mareli Claassens
Dr. Graeme Hoddinott
Dr. Cari van Schalkwyk
Guest Editors

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• tuberculosis (TB)
• TB/HIV co-infection
• high burden
• low- and middle-income countries
• African region
• Western Pacific region
• South-East Asian region
• nuanced analyses
• impact of COVID-19 pandemic