As external funding to combat TB falls, domestic spending accounts for 86%: WHO report

In 2025, globally there were an estimated 0.96 million new TB cases that were attributable to undernutrition, 0.92 million to diabetes, 0.73 million to alcohol use disorders, 0.69 million to smoking, and 0.55 million to HIV infection.

Around 86% of the spending on measures against tuberculosis (TB) in 2025 came from domestic sources, the recently released Global Tuberculosis Report 2026 by the World Health Organisation (WHO) said, even as the reduction in international donor funding to combat the infectious disease remains a cause of concern.

TB cases remain one of the leading causes of death from a single infectious agent, with a quarter of all cases concentrated in India in 2025. The report notes that $22 billion is needed annually for TB prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and care to achieve the global targets agreed on at the 2023 United Nations high-level TB meeting by 2027.

In absolute terms, Brazil, China, India, the Russian Federation, and South Africa accounted for $3.7 billion (65%) of the total of $5.63 billion provided from domestic sources in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

The report notes that international donor funding fell by 14%, from $1.1 billion in 2024 to $0.94 billion in 2025, having been relatively stable at about $1.1–1.3 billion per year between 2015 and 2024.

Financing for TB research and innovation, at $1.2 billion in 2023, also continued to fall far short of the global target of $5 billion per year. Progress to date has been constrained by the overall level of investment, said the report.

“TB mostly affects adults in their most productive years. However, all age groups are at risk. Over 80% of cases and deaths are in low- and middle-income countries. In 2025, the largest number of new TB cases occurred in the WHO South-East Asia Region (35%),’’ said the report.

The WHO on Friday (November 13, 2026) called on countries in the South-East Asia Region to accelerate action to end TB. The latest TB estimates show the region accounts for 3.6 million people who developed TB in 2025 — 34% of the global total — and 4,00,000 TB-related deaths, or 35% of the global total. "These numbers are a stark reminder that TB remains one of the Region’s most pressing public health and development challenges,” said Nilesh Buddha, officer-in-charge, WHO South-East Asia Region.

A release issued by the regional office added that in 2025, $1.03 billion was available for TB prevention and care in the region, with 91% from domestic sources. Yet this represented only around 16% of global TB funding, despite the region accounting for 34% of global cases. "Closing this gap in resources is critical to sustaining progress," the WHO said.

“Ending TB is not simply a health sector responsibility. It requires leadership across government, sustained investment, strong health systems and communities at the centre of the response. We have tools to prevent, diagnose and treat TB. What is needed now is the commitment to ensure they reach everyone who needs them, without delay or financial hardship,” said Dr. Buddha, adding that ending TB by 2030 will depend on countries turning political commitments into measurable action, with greater urgency and scale.

Meanwhile, the Global TB Report said that across the world, about 50% of people treated for TB and their households face total costs (direct medical expenditures, non-medical expenditures, and indirect costs such as income losses) that are catastrophic (more than 20% of total household income). This is far from the target of the WHO End TB Strategy of zero.

In 2025, globally there were an estimated 0.96 million new TB cases that were attributable to undernutrition, 0.92 million to diabetes, 0.73 million to alcohol use disorders, 0.69 million to smoking, and 0.55 million to HIV infection.