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Source: Global tuberculosis report 2025. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2025. Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO.
Photo credit: Qilai Shen
Source: Global tuberculosis report 2025. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2025. Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO.
Photo credit: Sergey Golovach
Source: Global tuberculosis report 2025. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2025. Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO.
Photo credit: Riccardo Venturi
Source: Global tuberculosis report 2025. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2025. Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO.
Photo credit: Edwin Tuyay
Source: Global tuberculosis report 2025. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2025. Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO.
Photo credit: Qilai Shen
Source: Global tuberculosis report 2025. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2025. Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO.
Photo credit: Qilai Shen
Access to Medicine Foundation. Antimicrobial Resistance Benchmark 2021. Available at: https://accesstomedicinefoundation.org/ (accessed 18 February 2026)
Photo credit: Riccardo Venturi
Source: Based on Treatment Action Group, Reports on Tuberculosis Research Funding Trends, issues from 2006-2024 (Accessed 18 February 2026). All reports available at: https://www.treatmentactiongroup.org/
Photo credit: Qilai Shen
Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the oldest and most persistent epidemics, still affecting people in every country in the world. The World Health Organization estimates that in 2024, 10.7 million people became newly infected with TB, including 1.2 million children.1
TB is spread through air. It most commonly affects the lungs, but can spread to almost any part of the body. About 5-10% of people infected with TB will eventually get symptoms and develop TB disease. People with weakened immune systems, such as people living with HIV or diabetes, or people who smoke tobacco, have a much higher risk of falling ill with TB.2
The global progress in eliminating TB has been very slow. There was a larger (1.7%) global decline in the TB incidence rate between 2023 and 2024. However, the net reduction from 2015 to 2024 was 12%, far from the End TB Strategy milestone of a 50% reduction by 2025 and the target of an 80% reduction by 2030.1 Globally, TB is the world’s leading cause of death from a single infectious agent and among the top 10 causes of death.2 In 2024 alone an estimated 1.23 million people died from this disease.1
Yet with proper management, TB is curable. However, even treatment of uncomplicated forms of TB requires taking a number of medicines every day for 4 to 6 months.2
The progress in eliminating TB and curing those affected by it has been eroded by the spread of drug-resistant bacteria. To learn more about drug-resistance, click here.
Otsuka has been searching for new tools to fight TB for over 50 years, and has been one of the leading private sector funders of TB Research & Development in the world since 2005.3 It is committed to finding innovative solutions to effectively treat drug-resistant forms of TB, as well as to simplify and shorten treatment.
References
1. Global tuberculosis report 2025. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2025. Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO.
2. World Health Organization. Tuberculosis Factsheet. Published on 13 November 2025. Available at: https://www.who.int/en/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/tuberculosis (Accessed 12 February 2026).
3. Based on Treatment Action Group, Reports on Tuberculosis Research Funding Trends, issues from 2006 until 2024 (accessed 18 February 2026). All reports available at: https://www.treatmentactiongroup.org/
Information current as of March 2026
Reference ONP-DEL-2500004 v2.0
