Fresh TB cases drop by 21% since 2015: Health ministry cites WHO report

New Delhi, Nov 12 (PTI) India's TB incidence (new cases emerging each year) reduced by 21 per cent, from 237 per lakh population in 2015 to 187 per lakh population in 2024, the World Health Organization's Global TB Report 2025 has revealed, the Union Health Ministry said on Wednesday.

The reduction is over almost double the pace of the decline observed globally at 12 per cent, the government said.

India's case finding approach, driven by the swift uptake of newer technologies, decentralisation of services and large-scale community mobilisation, has led to the country's treatment coverage to surge to over 92 per cent in 2024, the ministry said.

The coverage is up from 53 per cent in 2015, with 26.18 lakh TB patients being diagnosed in 2024, out of an estimated incidence of 27 lakh cases, it said.

The detection has helped reduce the number of "missing cases" — those who had TB but were not reported to the programme — from an estimated 15 lakh in 2015 to less than one lakh in 2024, the ministry said.

There is also no significant increase in the number of MDR-TB patients in the country, it said.

Treatment success rate under the TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyan increases to 90 per cent, ahead of the global treatment success rate of 88 per cent.

India's TB mortality rate has decreased from 28 per lakh population in 2015 to 21 per lakh population in 2024.

The government attributed the progress to its strong commitment, evidenced by a historic near ten-fold increase in funding to the TB programme over the last nine years.

Since its launch in December 2024, the TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyan has had an extensive reach, with over 19 crore vulnerable individuals screened for TB across the country, leading to the detection of over 24.5 lakh TB patients, including 8.61 lakh asymptomatic TB cases.

India's commitment to early detection is backed by the largest TB lab network in the world, comprising 9,391 rapid molecular testing facilities and 107 culture and drug susceptibility testing laboratories, the government said.

To bolster community screening efforts, the country has over 500 AI-enabled hand-held chest x-ray units, with 1,500 machines more being delivered to the states and UTs, the statement read.

Through 1.78 lakh Ayushman Arogya Mandirs across the country, the programme has been able to decentralise services and take TB care closer to communities, it stated.

The ministry said it has also expanded nutritional support given to TB patients.

The Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) under the Ni-kshay Poshan Yojana (NPY) was increased from Rs 500 to Rs 1,000 per month per patient for the entire treatment duration.

Since its launch in April 2018, a sum of Rs 4,406 crore has been disbursed directly into the bank accounts of 1.37 crore beneficiaries, the statement said.

To date, 6,77,541 individuals and organisations have enrolled as Ni-kshay Mitras and distributed over 45 lakh food baskets to TB patients, it said. PTI PLB VN VN