Results International Australia, is an non-government-organisation that is trying to get the word out about the disease in hopes of creating a TB free world by 2030.
Chief Executive Officer of Results International Australia, Negaya Chorley, says COVID-19 derailed much of the tuberculosis research.
"Tuberculosis is at a crisis point. The world came together back in 2018 and we aimed to eliminate TB by 2030 and then COVID-19 came alone and COVID derailed our efforts on TB globally. For the first time in over a decade, we're seeing TB deaths rise as a direct result of COVID. So, this is a pandemic. The world now knows about pandemics but this is a pandemic that's been going on since the beginning of time. But it's one we don't talk about enough because it largely is happening in developing countries and affecting poor communities."
Tuberculosis is a bacterial infection that affects people through a kind of pneumonia that can last many weeks.
Throughout this process, people commonly have a cough, fevers, weight-loss, and it can ultimately result in death if left untreated.
Dr Philipp Du Cros [[do -crow]] is an infectious diseases specialist at the Burnet Institute with more than 10 years’ experience in the management of tuberculosis.
He also confirms the rise in the number of cases of both standard and drug-resistant T-B.
"In the last couple of years, due to COVID, the numbers have actually gone up and has things of all the progress that have happened in the last sort of decade has been partly undone, and we've taken a five year step backwards in the fight against TB."
Dr Du Cros, who is a frequent advisor to the WHO on tuberculosis, has worked on-the-ground across countries such as Uzbekistan, India, Myanmar, Uganda, and Zimbabwe and his current work now concerns the Asia-Pacific region specifically.
