Health Minister Zahid Maleque on Wednesday said the annual death toll from tuberculosis (TB) in Bangladesh has come down to 40,000, half the figure 10 years ago.

“Ten years ago, up to 80,000 people died of tuberculosis (TB) every year. This has now come down to 40,000,” he said at a workshop on the government’s Community Right and Gender Action Plan 2021-23 for TB.

He said around 97% of tuberculosis patients are getting well by taking medicines regularly.

He, however, expressed his concern by saying that the death of 40,000 people by this disease is not a good sign during this era of health development. 

He said: “More than 100 people died of tuberculosis a day while we remain concerned about one or two deaths by Covid-19. This is very alarming. Our all ministries will have to work unitedly to bring the figure to zero level.”

He regarded TB as the 13th cause of death worldwide and around 1core people across the globe are infected with the disease. Nearly 1,500,000 people die of tuberculosis (TB) worldwide every year which is a high figure.