1Department of Public Health, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
2Department of Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Indonesia, Jakarta, Indonesia.
Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2020 Dec 2;104(2):436-440. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.20-1125.
The COVID-19 pandemic has created an unprecedented health crisis and a substantial socioeconomic impact. It also affects tuberculosis (TB) control severely worldwide. Interruptions of many TB control programs because of the COVID-19 pandemic could result in significant setbacks. One of the targets that can be affected is the WHO's End TB Strategy goal to eliminate catastrophic costs of TB-affected households by 2030. Disruptions to TB programs and healthcare services due to COVID-19 could potentially prolong diagnostic delays and worsen TB treatment adherence and outcomes. The economic recession caused by the pandemic could significantly impact household financial capacity because of the reduction of income and the rise in unemployment rates. All of these factors increase the risk of TB incidence and the gravity of economic impact on TB-affected households, and hamper efforts to eliminate catastrophic costs and control TB. Therefore, efforts to eliminate the incidence of TB-affected households facing catastrophic costs will be very challenging. Because financial constraint plays a significant role in TB control, the improvement of health and social protection systems is critical. Even before the pandemic, many TB-high-burden countries (HBCs) lacked robust health and social protection systems. These challenges highlight the substantial need for a more robust engagement of patients and civil society organizations and international support in addressing the consequences of COVID-19 on the control of TB.
新型冠状病毒肺炎大流行造成了前所未有的卫生危机和重大社会经济影响。它也严重影响了全球的结核病（TB）控制。由于新型冠状病毒肺炎大流行，许多结核病控制项目中断，可能导致重大挫折。受影响的目标之一是世界卫生组织的终结结核病战略目标，即在 2030 年消除受结核病影响家庭的灾难性费用。由于新型冠状病毒肺炎，结核病规划和医疗保健服务的中断可能会导致诊断延迟，结核病治疗的坚持和结果恶化。大流行造成的经济衰退可能会因收入减少和失业率上升而严重影响家庭的财务能力。所有这些因素都增加了结核病发病的风险和对受结核病影响家庭的经济影响的严重性，并阻碍了消除灾难性费用和控制结核病的努力。因此，消除面临灾难性费用的结核病患者的发病率的努力将极具挑战性。由于财政限制在结核病控制中起着重要作用，因此改善卫生和社会保护系统至关重要。即使在大流行之前，许多结核病高负担国家（HBCs）也缺乏强大的卫生和社会保护系统。这些挑战突显了在应对新型冠状病毒肺炎对结核病控制的影响方面，需要更有力地让患者和民间社会组织参与并获得国际支持。
