Tuberculosis remains the world's leading infectious killer, claiming an estimated 1.23 million lives last year, the UN health organisation said Wednesday as it warned that recent gains made against the disease were fragile.

Deaths from TB were down three percent from 2023, while cases dropped by nearly two percent, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in its annual overview.

An estimated 10.7 million people worldwide fell ill with TB in 2024: 5.8 million men, 3.7 million women, and 1.2 million children.

A preventable and curable disease, tuberculosis is caused by bacteria that most often affect the lungs. It spreads through the air when people with TB cough, sneeze, or spit.

Now, TB cases and deaths are both declining "for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic", which disrupted services, said Tereza Kasaeva, head of the WHO department for HIV, TB, hepatitis, and sexually transmitted infections.

"Funding cuts and persistent drivers of the epidemic threaten to undo hard-won gains, but with political commitment, sustained investment, and global solidarity, we can turn the tide and end this ancient killer once and for all," she said.

Funding for the fight against TB has stagnated since 2020.

Last year, $5.9 billion was available for prevention, diagnosis, and treatment – way off the target of $22 billion annually by 2027.