Cannabis Health Insider

The coronavirus pandemic has changed quite a few things with the global lockdown and economic shutdown, affecting countries worldwide, with the rapidly increasing number of infected cases and deaths around the world. Consequently, researchers are constantly studying the virus and working towards a cure and vaccine for the virus, as it has become a global pandemic.

While the government and health care workers are constantly working on stopping the spread of this deadly virus, other health conditions might not be focused on. According to new research, approximately 1.4 million more people could die due to tuberculosis (TB) by 2025, due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, on the fight against the infection.

However, worldwide efforts to grapple with the virus, has a bad effect n the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of TB, according to experts. As a result, an additional 6.3 million cases of the infection are expected by experts, by 2025, according to a report that was published on Wednesday.

Tuberculosis is a bacterial infection that affects the lungs and has existed for centuries. The infection kills around 1.5 million people per year, which is more than any other infectious disease. Furthermore, it has been subject to a major drive for the elimination of the disease from human populations in recent years.

However, according to Dr. Lucia Ditiu, coronavirus has derailed those efforts. Ditiu is the executive director of the Stop TB Partnership, which is a United Nations-hosted entity that aims for the end of the disease by 2030.

Ditiu has said in a press release that a torturous path is being faced by the government, in the navigation between the imminent disaster of COVID-19 and the long-running infection of TB. Ditiu added that choosing to ignore TB again, would result at the end of at least five years of hard-earned progress, against the world’s deadliest infection, and will eventually result in the sickness of millions of more people.

The significantly high numbers arise from modeling that was based on a three-month lockdown with a 10-month restoration of TB services. The Stop TB Partnership commissioned this, while the Imperial College London, Johns Hopkins University, and Avenir Health, carried it out, with the support of USAID.

The modeling focuses on the impacts of the measures taken to stop the spread of the coronavirus in India, Kenya, and Ukraine, which are the three “high burden” nations as they have a large number of estimated cases.

There has been a decline in the number of cases and deaths in recent years due to the coordination of efforts in these high burden countries, according to the Stop TB Partnership. However, the Stop TB Partnership added that the implementation of restrictions worldwide due to the coronavirus has eventually lead to the dramatic fall of the detection of TB cases, along with the delay of treatments, and interruption of treatments of patients with a drug-resistant TB risk.

The fight against TB could be halted for another five to eight years, as suggested by the study. However, to somehow limit the impact, the Stop TB Partnership, is calling on governments to focus on the maintenance of diagnostic, treatment, and prevention services, even during the lockdown restrictions. Furthermore, the Stop TB Partnership has also asked for the implementation of “a massive catch-up effort” for the tracing and treatment of TB.

Tuberculosis is a highly infectious and complex disease. Hence, it is as important to protect people who are already infected with TB, as it is to protect people who can carry the bacteria. Mycobacterium tuberculosis can exist in a person for years, or even possibly their entire lives, without any symptoms whatsoever.