Lancet Series: Tuberculosis in the time of COVID-19
Executive Summary
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on global
tuberculosis control efforts, reversing years of progress
towards WHO End TB Strategy targets. Wide-ranging efforts are
needed to tackle these intersecting pandemics, the leading
infectious causes of death worldwide.
In the first of
a Series of three papers, Keertan Dheda and colleagues review
the effects of COVID-19 on global efforts to reduce the burden
of tuberculosis, identifying points of intersection between the
two pandemics and highlighting new strategies for tuberculosis
control. Hanif Esmail and colleagues focus on opportunities to
optimise the management of tuberculosis across the disease
spectrum. Finally, Grant Theron and colleagues address
challenges in tuberculosis diagnostics, considering the promise
of rapid, sputum-free diagnostic technologies and tests with
potential for decentralised deployment.
