Govt to intensify efforts to eliminate tuberculosis by 2025
Nearly 8.2 million people were newly diagnosed with TB in 2023, of which 26% (or nearly 2.1 million) cases were reported from India, according to WHO’s Global Tuberculosis Report 2024
The Union ministry of health and family welfare has identified 347 high-focus districts across 33 states and Union territories to intensify tuberculosis (TB) elimination efforts in order to meet its ambitious target to eliminate the bacterial disease from the country by 2025.
Nearly 8.2 million people were newly diagnosed with TB in 2023, of which 26% (or nearly 2.1 million) cases were reported from India, according to WHO’s Global Tuberculosis Report 2024 released in October this year.
India, which has set 2025 as target year for TB elimination — five years ahead of the global target of 2030 — is likely to miss the deadline given the large burden of the cases, and the health ministry is contemplating whether or not to push the deadline further, people aware of the matter said.
To intensify the country’s fight against TB, Union health minister JP Nadda, along with the other stakeholders, will launch a 100-day TB elimination campaign from Panchkula in Haryana on Saturday.
“The campaign underscores the government of India’s commitment to achieving the goal of end-TB by addressing the challenges of tuberculosis (TB) notification and mortality in India under the National TB Elimination Programme (NTEP),” the ministry said in a statement on Friday.
The initiative has been designed to enhance TB case detection, reduce diagnostic delays, and improve treatment outcomes, particularly in high-risk groups.
“It represents yet another significant strategic effort by the country in its bid to strengthen programmatic activities and reduce disparities in TB outcomes across diverse regions of the country to achieve the aim of TB elimination,” the statement said, adding that the initiative is in line with the vision of a “TB-Mukt Bharat (TB-free India)” that was laid out by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the 2018 Delhi End-TB Summit.
“Since then, critical initiatives have been launched by the programme to strengthen prevention, diagnostic, and treatment services across the country,” it added.
The 100-day campaign envisages improving programme performance on key output indicators such as TB incidence rates, diagnostic coverage, and mortality rates. It also aligns with recent policy enhancements by the health ministry, including increased financial aid for TB patients, under the Ni-kshay Poshan Yojana, and inclusion of household contacts under the social support initiative, Pradhan Mantri TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan.
Some of the key focus areas of the campaign are increasing access to advanced diagnostics, targeted screening among vulnerable groups, specialized care for high-risk individuals, and provision of expanded nutritional support.
“The initiative will leverage the vast network of Ayushman Aarogya Mandirs across the country that have taken TB services to the last mile,” the ministry said.
TB is caused by bacteria (Mycobacterium tuberculosis) that most often affect the lungs. It can spread when people who are sick with TB expel bacteria into the air — for example, by coughing.
Multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) remains a public health crisis, and treatment success rates for multidrug-resistant or rifampicin-resistant TB currently is 68%. India has about 27% of the global MDR TB burden, according to the WHO report.
The Union government is in the process of rolling out BPaLM regimen — a novel treatment forMDR-TB— which is more efficacious and has a treatment duration of six months as opposed to the earlier regimen of 20 months.
“The measures are in place, and whatever more is needed is being done. India is on the right path and it will soon yield desired results,” a senior central government official said, requesting anonymity.
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