As per the recently released India TB Report 2024, India registered a significant 16% decline in Tuberculosis (TB) cases in the country between 2015 and 2022. This is a big success as India surpassed the total global decline in the cases which is only 9%. However, a discouraging trend has also been witnessed. According to the report, 25.55 lakh cases were reported in 2023, which is the highest in a year since the beginning of the National Tuberculosis Elimination Programme (NTEP) in the 1960s.
Key highlights
- Uttar Pradesh recorded the highest number of TB incidences when compared to the last year. Bihar followed UP in TB incidence last year.
- According to the report, TB mortality declined by 18% as compared to 2015. In 2015, the mortality rate was 28 per lakh population, which came down to 23 per lakh.
- Among the 30-high burden countries, India maintained the top position when it comes to treatment coverage for patients, which was over 80%.
About TB
- It is an infectious disease that primarily impacts lungs, but can spread across different body parts.
- Mycobacterium tuberculosis is the bacteria that causes the development of TB.
- TB is a major healthcare challenge for the world, particularly in developing nations.
- 24th March is observed as the World TB Day. German physician and Nobel Prize laureate, Robert Koch discovered the bacterium, that causes TB, on 24th March 1882.
India’s TB abolition targets
- India has set a goal of eliminating TB by 2025, five years before the target set under the SDG goals 2030.
- As per the World Health Organization report, India is among those eight nations that account for 68.3% of the total TB cases.
- India needs to augment its actions towards generating awareness, breaking stigma, early detection, treatment, and community engagement.
