Tuberculosis remains the world's leading infectious killer, claiming an estimated 1.23 million lives last year, the UN health organisation said as it reported that Pakistan among eight countries accounted for two-thirds of global TB cases.

Deaths from TB were down three percent from 2023, while cases dropped by nearly two per cent, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in its annual overview.

An estimated 10.7 million people worldwide fell ill with TB in 2024: 5.8 million men, 3.7 million women and 1.2 million children.

A preventable and curable disease, tuberculosis is caused by bacteria that most often affects the lungs. It spreads through the air when people with TB cough, sneeze or spit.

Now, TB cases and deaths are both declining "for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic"

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