Note: Single-source report; awaiting corroboration.
The Seventy-ninth World Health Assembly endorsed a decision requesting the WHO Director-General to develop a post-2030 tuberculosis strategy. This strategy will be developed in consultation with Member States and relevant stakeholders, and submitted for approval at the Eighty-first World Health Assembly in 2028. It aims to guide the future global TB response, incorporate scientific advances and epidemiological trends, and align with primary health care, universal health coverage, and global health security agendas, ahead of the 2028 UN High-Level Meeting on TB.
According to the Assembly report, expanded TB treatment between 2000 and 2024 saved an estimated 83 million lives. 2024 marked the first decline in TB incidence since the COVID-19 pandemic and the highest recorded access to essential TB services. However, TB remains a leading infectious cause of death globally, with progress toward End TB Strategy targets and Sustainable Development Goals still lagging. Challenges include chronic underfunding, pandemic-related disruptions, inequalities, conflict, and climate-related vulnerabilities.
The Assembly also approved a resolution recognizing steatotic liver disease (SLD), previously known as fatty liver disease, as a significant and growing contributor to the global burden of noncommunicable diseases. SLD is estimated to affect 1.7 billion people worldwide and is among the fastest-growing causes of chronic liver disease. SLD is closely linked with obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and other metabolic conditions, with alcohol-associated liver disease also playing a significant role.
The resolution urges Member States to integrate SLD into national NCD strategies, strengthen primary health care approaches, enhance surveillance and awareness, and promote multisectoral action to address shared risk factors such as unhealthy diets, physical inactivity, and harmful use of alcohol. It also calls for greater access to prevention, screening, diagnosis, and management services, particularly for at-risk populations including children and adolescents. WHO is requested to provide technical support and incorporate SLD into ongoing NCD control efforts.