As Covid-19 Derails TB Progress, Advocates Demand Renewed Commitment To End TB - Forbes, March 23, 2021
For World TB Day, Dr. Madhukar Pai, Professor at the Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health and former McGill Global Health Programs Director wrote about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the path to end tuberculosis in Forbes.
"In March last year, I had written about the potential negative impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on tuberculosis (TB) services. I had expressed concern that TB services is might be one of the biggest casualties. A year later, the verdict is in: the pandemic has had a devastating impact on TB services. According to WHO, an estimated 1.4 million fewer people received necessary care for TB during 2020 compared with the previous year, because of Covid-19. According to the Stop TB Partnership, 12 months of Covid-19 eliminated 12 years of progress in the global fight against TB."