In order to prevent the COVID-19 pandemic from reducing global efforts of tuberculosis (TB) elimination, the World Health Organization has set the theme for World Tuberculosis Day on March 24, 2022, as "Invest to End TB. Save Lives.", calling on countries to continue to invest resources in the prevention and control of TB, otherwise it will be difficult to achieve the goal of eliminating tuberculosis by 2035 and to reverse the severe impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the health and safety of human society. In response to World TB Day, the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control (Taiwan CDC) held a press conference called " Contributions from all of us to defeat TB" on March 23. In the event, Taiwan CDC, in conjunction with the health bureaus of 22 counties and cities, used Facebook avatar frames with special effects and Instagram time-limited dynamic filter activities to call on the public to pay more attention to TB and work together to achieve the goal of eliminating TB, while fighting against COVID-19 with all their strength, as TB is also a respiratory infectious disease and has yet to be eradicated.

Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Hsueh Jui-Yuan said that during the COVID-19 pandemic, global TB prevention and control has been severely compromised. The number of global notifications fell by 18% from 2019 to 2020, instead of rising, and the TB mortality rate rose, not falling, for the first time since 2005, returning to the death level in 2017. The number of TB notifications in Taiwan decreased by an average of 7% per year in the past, and the decline slightly increased to 10% from 2019 to 2020. Fortunately, the increase in TB deaths due to COVID-19 did not follow the same pattern. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Taiwan still actively maintains critical control measures such as diagnosis, treatment, and provision of DOTS services, so as to reduce the threat and impact of TB on people's health and social economy. It also tries to raise public awareness of TB prevention and encourages the public to pay attention to, take part in, and make a contribution to TB prevention and control.

Yu Ming-Chih, Director of the Taiwan Anti-Tuberculosis Association, shared that because both TB and COVID-19 are respiratory infectious diseases, and it can be difficult to distinguish TB from COVID-19 in the early stage, tests are needed to help confirm the distinction. Therefore, people are reminded that if they have symptoms, such as cough that lasts for 2 weeks, phlegm, chest pain, weight loss, loss of appetite, and fever, they should be alert to the possibility of TB infection and voluntarily seek medical treatment as early as possible. TB is effectively curable by taking medication regularly for 6 to 9 months. In addition, people with latent TB infection (LTBI), i.e. individuals who are infected with TB bacteria but have not yet developed symptoms, have about a 5-10% risk of developing TB in their lifetime. Treatment for LTBI can prevent future onset of the disease. High-risk groups such as contacts of TB patients are urged to comply with public health authorities’ referral to medial services of LTBI treatment to protect the health of themselves and their relatives and friends.

According to statistics from Taiwan CDC, Taiwan's TB incidence rate dropped from 73 cases per 100,000 population in 2005 to about 31 cases per 100,000 population in 2021, a cumulative decline of 57%. However, a total of 7,187 people were diagnosed with TB in 2021. That is to say, one person is diagnosed with TB about every hour. However, TB is preventable and curable. Like COVID-19, it requires the joint attention and effort of the whole population to protect the health and safety of society. If you have any questions about TB, you can go to the Taiwan CDC website (https://www.cdc.gov.tw) or call the toll-free Communicable Disease Reporting and Consultation Hotline, 1922 (or 0800-001922) for other inquiries.