Eliminating undernutrition could prevent up to 2.3 million TB cases globally: Study

NEW DELHI: (May 12) Addressing undernutrition could prevent up to 2.3 million tuberculosis cases worldwide, representing 23.7 per cent of infections among adults in 2023, according to a modelling study published in The Lancet Global Health journal.

India could have seen the highest reduction in tuberculosis (TB) cases if undernutrition was addressed, followed by Indonesia, the Philippines and Pakistan, researchers, including those from London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, estimated.

“We estimated that eliminating moderate-to-severe undernutrition could avert 1·4 million tuberculosis episodes globally, representing 14.6 per cent of global adult incidence in 2023, while eliminating all undernutrition could avert 2.3 million episodes, representing a reduction in global tuberculosis incidence of 23.7 per cent,” the authors wrote.