Achieves 16% Reduction in Tuberculosis Incidence: Health Minister Reports Significant Progress

In a commendable stride towards eradicating tuberculosis, India has recorded a remarkable 16% reduction in TB incidence since 2015, outpacing the global rate of 8.7%. Union Health Minister Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya shared this encouraging news during the 37th STOP TB Partnership Board Meeting held last week.

The Stop TB Partnership, hosted by UNOPS, serves as a collective force in transforming the global fight against tuberculosis.

India's commitment to ending TB by 2025, five years ahead of the global target of 2030, is underscored by the latest statistics. Dr. Mandaviya highlighted the substantial progress, stating, "After two challenging years dominated by disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, globally we saw a reduction in TB incidence by 8.7 per cent while in India we were able to demonstrate a reduction of 16 per cent, almost double the pace."

Addressing the urgency of the situation, he added, "With less than 2 years left for India’s target of 2025, our approach going forward is focusing on prevention, while we saturate coverage of services in the detection and treatment of TB."

The minister emphasized the tangible results of these efforts, pointing out the reduction in missing TB cases in India from 1 million in 2015 to 0.26 million in 2023.

Under India's G20 Presidency, efforts to improve the effectiveness and reach of health services using digital solutions, strengthen pharmaceutical development and manufacturing capabilities, and address "One Health" and Anti-Microbial Resistance align with the global fight against TB.

Dr. Mandaviya acknowledged the pivotal role of the private sector in India's TB control strategy, noting an over 8-fold increase in private sector notifications in the past 9 years. In 2023, 0.84 million patients were notified from the private sector, contributing to 33% of total notifications – the highest ever recorded.

The success of the "Jan Bhagidhari" approach, emphasizing people's participation, was highlighted by the Pradhan Mantri TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyan. This initiative, recognized as the world's largest crowd-sourcing effort, enlisted over 1,50,000 Ni-kshay Mitra who adopted more than 1 million TB patients, providing them with nutritional and other necessary support.

The Health Minister also highlighted initiatives such as the Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra, screening over 38 million individuals for TB and referring over 1 million for testing. Additionally, the launch of the 'TB Mukt Panchayat' initiative, procurement of over 5 million courses of TB preventive treatment drug, 3HP, and the provision of TB services at the community level through 1.6 lakh Ayushman Arogya Mandirs underscored India's comprehensive approach.

Dr. Mandaviya urged global dignitaries to leverage collective knowledge in creating large-scale preventive interventions, addressing social determinants, and emphasized the urgent need to launch TB vaccination to achieve sustainable development goals targets for TB.