We're back: How tuberculosis is set to surge globally once again

Summary

On January 24th, 2025, the Trump administration announced a freeze on all foreign aid funding for 90 days, during which time the administration would evaluate which foreign aid contracts were in the interest of the United States. Since then, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Elon Musk, has decimated the US foreign aid apparatus, which many countries rely on for their public health infrastructure. The Center for Global Development estimates that more than three million people could die within a year if foreign aid funding is not restored. On March 5th, the World Health Organization (WHO) issued a warning that the funding cuts to USAID would lead to a resurgence of tuberculosis (TB) globally. A broad swath of Americans may be less familiar with the continued prevalence of TB because of its low prevalence in the US and Europe, but in 2023, TB killed 1.25 million people worldwide, supplanting COVID-19 as the planet’s deadliest infectious disease. A new book by the novelist and TB activist John Green, Everything is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection, highlights the history of TB, and the unique way that the disease reflects the biases of society. Today, when the disease has been effectively cured in rich countries, it is still devastating poor communities around the world. The Trump administration’s funding freeze is the latest example of how humanity is choosing to let tuberculosis spread. The romantic disease. Monday, March 24th, was World Tuberculosis Day, which celebrates the discovery of mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacteria that causes tuberculosis, by Robert Koch in 1882. At the time, TB was broadly known as “consumption” and killed one in seven people in Europe and the United States. For much of its history, TB was romanticized and thought to elevate artistic ability—it was often described as a blessing. Many famous artists, poets, and writers suffered from the malady, and it was thought that the disease f...