Puducherry emerges as front-runner in TB testing, records 136 per cent rise since 2015

New Delhi, Jul 5 (PTI) Puducherry has emerged as a frontrunner in Tuberculosis (TB) testing, ramping up examinations of presumptive TB patients from 2,233 per lakh population in 2015 to 2,526 per lakh in 2024, officials said on Friday.

Continuing the upward trend, the Union Territory further increased its presumptive TB testing rate to 5,268 per lakh population in the first quarter of 2025, marking a 136 per cent increase compared to 2015, said Dr S Govindarajan, Mission Director, National Health Mission (NHM), Puducherry.

On World TB Day this year, Union Health Minister J P Nadda recognised Puducherry's efforts with an appreciation certificate for its performance in presumptive TB testing under the 100-day Intensified TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan launched on December 7, 2024, across 455 districts.

The UT has increasingly relied on molecular diagnostics, such as CBNAAT and Truenat – recognised as gold-standard TB testing methods by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

"In 2018, only 13 per cent of patients underwent molecular/NAAT testing as the initial diagnostic test. This figure now stands at 100 per cent, owing to enhanced infrastructure, personnel training, and the recently concluded 100-day TB campaign," Dr Govindarajan said.

This shift has led to a 30 per cent rise in microbiologically confirmed TB cases and faster treatment initiation, particularly for drug-resistant TB, he added.

Despite the 136 per cent surge in testing rates, Puducherry has recorded a decline in the incidence of TB over the past five years, he said.

Retail sale of anti-TB drugs in the UT has also sharply declined over the past five years, and currently, all patients receive their medication solely through the government under the National Tuberculosis Elimination Programme (NTEP), Dr Govindarajan added.

To bolster early detection, the TB Cell in Puducherry initiated a door-to-door Active Case Finding Survey with support from medical colleges. In 2023, around 5.2 lakh vulnerable individuals were screened for TB symptoms. Of these, 42,096 chest x-rays and 1,432 sputum samples were collected and tested via NAAT, said State TB Officer Dr C Venkatesh.

The survey led to the diagnosis of 48 new TB cases in 2023.

In a bid to break the transmission chain, the UT adopted the Test and Treat policy for TB contacts in 2022. Under this, contacts of TB patients are provided TB Preventive Therapy (TPT), Dr Venkatesh said.

Additionally, the Central TB Division rolled out Adult BCG vaccination for vulnerable individuals aged 18 years and above in May 2024 to reduce incidence. A total of 34,222 individuals have been vaccinated so far and are being monitored as per protocol, he added.

According to the India TB Report 2024, Puducherry recorded 4,169 TB cases, accounting for 0.16 per cent of the national burden. Of these, 1,567 cases were from Puducherry, while 2,602 were from border districts and other states, Dr Govindarajan said.

He attributed part of the TB burden to significant in-migration from neighbouring states, with many terminally ill patients referred to Puducherry's tertiary care centres such as the Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER).

To improve outcomes, Puducherry implemented the Differentiated TB Care Model in 2024 to monitor critically ill patients. This initiative reduced the TB death rate from 13 per cent in 2023 to 10 per cent in 2024.

"Even though the 10 per cent death rate is still high, it is mainly due to patients from border districts and other states dying in Puducherry's tertiary hospitals, including nine medical colleges and seven hospitals," Dr Govindarajan said.

NTEP was launched in Puducherry on February 20, 2004, under the Department of Health and Family Welfare Services and NHM. The UT, with a population of 13.92 lakh, has one NTEP district, seven TB units, 28 TB Diagnostic Centres, and an Intermediate Reference Laboratory (IRL) at the Government Hospital for Chest Diseases with culture and drug susceptibility testing facilities. PTI PLB HIG HIG