The report reveals that the European Region, covering 53 countries across Europe and Central Asia, including the 30 countries of the European Union and European Economic Area (EU/EEA), continues to fall short of regional and global End TB milestones on two fronts: a persistent detection challenge, with one in five TB cases going undiagnosed or unreported, and drug-resistance levels that remain far higher than in other regions. These twin crises are inseparable. People who are diagnosed late have a higher chance of transmitting TB to others and are harder to treat. More TB transmission may result in high numbers of people with treatment failure, which is a primary driver of resistance. Closing the detection gap and tackling drug resistance are not parallel priorities, but part of the same fight.
While TB incidence…