Key Facts and Messages from the 2012 Global TB Report

By the end of 2012, representative surveillance data on levels of MDR-TB will be available from all 27 high MDRTB and 22 high TB burden countries, and from 135 of 194 Member States. Globally, 3.7% (2.1 - 5.2%) of new cases and 20% (13 - 26%) of previously treated cases are estimated to have MDR-TB.

There were an estimated 310 000 (range, 220 000 - 400 000) MDR-TB cases among notified TB patients with pulmonary TB in 2011. Almost 60% of these cases were in India, China and the Russian Federation.

Extensively drug-resistant TB, or XDR-TB, has been identified in 84 countries; the average proportion of MDR-TB cases with XDR-TB is 9.0% (6.7 - 11.2%).

Levels of MDR-TB remain worryingly high in some parts of the world, notably countries in eastern Europe and central Asia. In several of these countries, 9 - 32% of new cases have MDR-TB and more than 50% of previously treated cases have MDR-TB.

There has been progress in the detection and treatment of MDR-TB in the last two years. Globally, almost 60 000 cases of MDR-TB were noti?ed to WHO in 2011, mostly by European countries and South Africa. The number of cases reported by the 27 high MDR-TB burden countries almost doubled between 2009 and 2011.

Despite progress, the number of MDR-TB cases notified in 2011 represented only 19% of the estimated 310 000 cases of MDR-TB among reported TB patients with pulmonary TB, and less than 10% in the two countries with the largest number of cases, China and India. Achieving universal access to treatment requires a bold and concerted drive on many fronts of TB care, and increased financing.

Major efforts are needed to improve treatment success rates among patients with MDR-TB. The Global Plan target of >= 75% by 2015 was reached by only 30 of 107 countries that reported treatment outcome data for patients with MDR-TB.