A global agency has stated that the strain on healthcare systems in poorer countries due to the COVID-19 pandemic will lead to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people. The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria indicated that because of the damage to healthcare systems in the poorest nations, hundreds of thousands will die from tuberculosis as they do not receive necessary treatment. Peter Sands, the executive director of the Global Fund based in Geneva, noted that the excess deaths caused by HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis could surpass those from the coronavirus, according to Reuters.
The Fund's annual report for 2020, released on Wednesday, showed that the number of people receiving treatment for drug-resistant tuberculosis in the countries where the fund operates fell by 19%, while HIV prevention programs and services recorded an 11% decline. Sands told Reuters that the number of people receiving tuberculosis treatment in 2020 decreased by about one million compared to 2019, and he fears this will inevitably lead to the deaths of hundreds of thousands.
Sands explained that medical services were affected by lockdown measures aimed at controlling COVID-19, as clinics and medical teams that are typically used to combat tuberculosis were redirected to fight COVID-19 in countries such as India and across Africa. He added that he expects more significant damage this year due to the spread of the Delta variant.
The Fund noted that malaria was an exception to this trend in 2020, as prevention activities remained stable or increased compared to 2019. Although the exact death toll is still unknown, Sands mentioned that the increased deaths resulting from setbacks in combating diseases like tuberculosis or HIV/AIDS are higher than COVID-19 deaths themselves in some poorer countries, such as parts of the Sahel region in Africa.
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria is an alliance of governments, civil society organizations, and the private sector, investing more than $4 billion annually to combat these three diseases, with the United States being one of the major donors to the fund.
