The World Health Organization (WHO) Global Tuberculosis (TB) Report 2014 says TB remains one of the world’s deadliest communicable diseases.

In 2013, an estimated 9.0 million people developed TB and 1.5 million died from the disease, 360,000 of whom were HIV-positive.

The report which was made available to the Ghana News Agency on Friday said TB is slowly declining each year and it is estimated that 37 million lives were saved between 2000 and 2013 through effective diagnosis and treatment.

However, given that most deaths from TB are preventable, the death toll from the disease is still unacceptably high and efforts to combat it must be accelerated if 2015 global targets, set within the context of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), are to be met.

TB is present in all regions of the world and the Global Tuberculosis Report 2014 includes data compiled from 202 countries and territories.

This year’s report shows higher global totals for new TB cases and deaths in 2013 than previously, reflecting use of increased and improved national data.

A special supplement to the 2014 report highlights the progress that has been made in surveillance of drug resistant TB over the last two decades, and the response at global and national levels in recent years.

It said worldwide, the proportion of new cases with multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) was 3.5 per cent in 2013 and had not changed compared with recent years; however, much higher levels of resistance and poor treatment outcomes are of major concern in some parts of the world.

On TB financing, the report said, despite substantial growth in funding for TB prevention, diagnosis and treatment since 2002, an annual gap of around $ 2 billion still needs to be filled.

It said an estimated $ 8 billion per year is required to ensure a full response to the global TB epidemic: about two thirds for detection and treatment of drug susceptible TB; 20 per cent for treatment of MDR-TB; 10 per cent for rapid diagnostic tests and associated laboratory testing; and 5 per cent for collaborative TB/HIV activities.

It said based on reports to WHO from the 122 countries that account for 95 per cent of reported TB cases, funding for TB prevention, diagnosis and treatment reached a total of $ 6.3 billion in 2014, which left a gap of almost $ 2 billion per year compared with the required total of $ 8 billion.

It said Brazil, the Russian Federation, India, China and South Africa (BRICS), which collectively account for almost 50 per cent of global TB cases, were in a position to mobilize all or a large share of their required funding from domestic sources.

The report said the cost per patient treated for drug-susceptible TB in 2013 was in the range of $ 100 ? $ 500 in most countries with a high burden of TB.

According to the report in Lesotho, South Africa and Swaziland, the best estimates suggest that about one person in every 100, that is 1000 per 100 000 population develops active TB each year.

It noted that the cost per patient treated for MDR-TB ranged from an average of $ 9 235 in low-income countries to $ 48 553 in upper middle-income countries.

The end of 2015 marks a transition from the MDGs to a post-2015 development framework.

Within this broader context, WHO has developed a post-2015 global TB strategy that was approved by all Member States at the May 2014 World Health Assembly.

The overall goal of the strategy is to end the global TB epidemic, with corresponding 2035 targets of a 95 per cent reduction in TB deaths and a 90 per cent per cent reduction in TB incidence.

The strategy also includes a target of zero catastrophic costs for TB affected families by 2020.