The World Health Organisation (WHO) calls for an urgent investment of resources, support, care and information into the fight against tuberculosis (TB). Although 66 million lives have been saved since 2000, the COVID-19 pandemic has reversed those gains.

For the first time in over a decade, TB deaths increased in 2020. Ongoing conflicts across Eastern Europe, Africa and the Middle East have further exacerbated the situation for vulnerable populations.

Global spending on TB diagnostics, treatments and prevention in 2020 were less than half of the global target of $13 billion annually by 2022. For research and development, an extra $ 1.1 billion per year is needed.

Updated guidelines for the management of TB in children and adolescents released by WHO  highlight new patient-centred recommendations for diagnosis, treatment and prevention.

The most recent recommendations are diagnostic testing has expanded to include non-invasive specimens, such as stools; rapid molecular diagnostics are recommended as the initial test for TB diagnosis for children and adolescents; and two of the newest TB medicines to treat drug resistant TB (bedaquiline and delamanid) are now recommended for use in children of all ages, making it possible for children with drug-resistant TB to receive all-oral treatment regimens regardless of their age.