The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) is seeking the views of health and social care professionals to inform the next five-year Tuberculosis (TB) National Action Plan for England.
Running from 2026 to 2031, the plan will aim to improve the prevention, detection and control of TB.
Launching its call for evidence around TB, the UKHSA said insights from health and social care professionals – alongside those of academics, public health experts, epidemiologists, data and surveillance scientists, civil society representatives, policymakers, politicians and those with lived experience of TB – would be used to develop targeted strategies to tackle rising infection rates, prioritising the most effective interventions and addressing health inequalities.
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In 2023, England recorded an 11% increase in TB cases – the largest annual rise since enhanced surveillance began in 2000.
The upward trend looks set to continue, with provisional figures for 2024 indicating a further 13% year-on-year increase in TB notifications.
UKHSA said the figures show TB rates are diverging further from the trajectory required to achieve WHO elimination targets, and renewed action is necessary to keep rates below the WHO-defined low-incidence threshold of ten cases per 100,000 population.
Dr Esther Robinson, head of the TB unit at UKHSA, commented: “TB is curable and preventable, but the disease remains a serious public health issue in England.
‘While England is still considered a low-incidence country for TB, the rise in cases over recent years means that we are now just below that threshold.’
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TB in England is most common in urban areas, with the highest rate in London. However, the UKHSA has reported increases in parts of the country where TB incidence has historically been lower, such as the south west and north east.
The highest incidence of the disease is among people born outside the UK (81.5%). According to UKHSA, in instances where the person was born in the UK (18.5%), research has shown a clear link between TB and deprivation, including those who experience homelessness, drug and alcohol dependence, and have had contact with the criminal justice system.
‘This call for evidence will help us develop an action plan that prioritises the most effective interventions to reverse [the upward] trend, focusing particularly on the needs of those most affected,’ Dr Robinson added.
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The UKHSA survey for submitting evidence will be open from 3 April to 2 May 2025.
