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Combating the Global TB Epidemic

Despite being preventable and treatable, tuberculosis (TB) is now the leading infectious disease killer in the world, taking the lives of 1.6 million people each year.

As a global community, we have made tremendous progress in the fight against TB, but challenges remain. Many of the populations most vulnerable to TB, including children, pregnant women, people living with HIV, miners, and healthcare workers, are missed by health systems and do not get the care they need. Drug-resistant TB is a growing threat and poses another serious challenge to controlling the spread of TB worldwide.

CDC’s Division of Global HIV & TB (DGHT) is on the frontlines in more than 25 high burden countries working with partner governments to find, cure, and prevent TB and help sustain country efforts. As a result, we are helping to ensure a safer America and a safer world.

Key Facts

The latest statistics showing the burden of TB globally and the progress made to date

A fourth of the world’s population – nearly 2 billion people – are infected with TB

More than 500,000 cases of multidrug-resistant TB are reported each year

Global efforts have saved more than 50 million lives between 2000 and 2017

While TB exacts a severe economic toll, efforts to end TB are one of the best public health investments – yielding $43 for each $1 invested

Videos

Learn more about CDC’s data-driven efforts to find, cure, and prevent TB around the world in the videos below.


  1. TB and HIV
    Globally, TB/HIV coinfection is a serious public health threat. CDC is working to significantly increase the number of people living with HIV who are accessing TB preventive treatment to avoid the risk of active TB disease.

  2. CDC in Action: Hank Tomlinson
    Hank Tomlinson, PhD leads CDC’s Division of Global HIV & TB. Hear from him about CDC’s data-driven efforts to combat the HIV and TB epidemics around the world.

  3. CDC in Action: Global Tuberculosis
    Hear from one of CDC’s technical experts on how the agency is working with Ministries of Health and other partners to develop innovative approaches to find, cure, and prevent TB worldwide.

Social Media Tools

Sharable social media graphics that highlight the burden of TB, global progress to date, and CDC’s leadership to help end the epidemic. For more information, visit CDC’s global TB social media toolkit.

Factsheets

TB Preventive Treatment

TB Preventive Treatment – An overview describing the importance of TB preventive treatment and how CDC is scaling up access to this life-saving treatment.

TB Fact Sheet

An overview of CDC’s global TB efforts and return on investments in responding to one of the world’s greatest health threat.

Multidrug-Resistant Fact Sheet

This brief overview describes CDC’s response to the global threats of multidrug-resistant TB.

Drug-Resistant TB Animated Infographic

This animated infographic describes what’s needed to address the serious challenge of multidrug resistant and extensively drug resistant TB.

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