Stop TB Partnership

TB Facts & Figures

10 key TB Facts

• TB is contagious and spreads through the air; if not treated, each person with active TB infects on average 10 to 15 people every year
• More than 2 billion people, equal to one-third of the world's total population, are infected with TB bacilli, the microbes that cause TB
• Globally, TB affects about 9 million people each year, killing about 2 million
• TB is a disease of poverty; nearly all TB deaths occur in the developing world, affecting young adults in their most productive years
• TB is a leading killer among HIV-infected people with weakened immune systems. HIV-positive people who are infected with TB are up to 50 times more likely to develop active TB in their lifetime than people who are HIV-negative
• More than half of all TB deaths occur in Asia. A quarter of a million TB deaths are HIV-associated
• Global TB incidence is still growing at 1% a year because of the rapid increase in Africa; intense control efforts are helping incidence fall/stabilize in other regions
• Nearly 4 out of 10 TB cases globally are still not being properly detected/treated
• Multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) is a form of TB that is difficult and expensive to treat and fails to respond to standard first line drugs. Every year, an estimated 490,000 new MDR-TB cases occur causing more than 130,000 deaths. WHO reported in 2008 the highest rates of MDR-TB ever recorded with peaks up to 22% of new TB cases in some settings of the former Soviet Union
• Extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB) occurs when resistance to second-line drugs develops on top of MDR-TB. XDR-TB is virtually untreatable. There are an estimated 40,000 new XDR-TB cases annually

GDF Facts and Figures

• Years of existence: 8
• Total funds raised for GDF operations: $268 million
• Number of patient treatments supplied to date: 13,910,758
• Number of countries that have received first-line drug deliveries: 88
• Number of countries that have received second-line deliveries: 42
• Number of High Burden Countries that received drugs through a Grant or Direct Procurement Service: 17
• Number of countries that have received diagnostic kits deliveries: 17
• Number of countries receiving GDF drugs: 93
• Number of Technical assistance missions conducted: 334
• Duration of GDF grants: 3 years (renewable)
• Number of Global Fund recipients that have used GDF's services: 50
• Average cost to treat a patient infected with drug-sensitive TB: $22.40
• GDF's operational costs (as percentage of funding): 5
• Primary funders of GDF grants and DP drug orders: UNITAID and The Global
Fund

Last updated: July 2009

Please email us at gdf@who.int for the most recent facts and figures.

Latest TB trends (Figures and articles)

• Science Daily
• Medline Plus
• WHO Global TB database

Query the database for the following data and view tables, which can be exported to MS Excel.

• Estimated TB incidence (1990-2006)
• Estimated TB prevalence (MDG indicator 23) (1990-2006)
• Estimated TB deaths (MDG indicator 23) (1990-2006)
• DOTS population coverage (1995-2006)
• Reported TB cases (1995-2006)
• Case detection rate (MDG indicator 24) (1995-2006)
• Treatment success (MDG indicator 24) (1994-2005)