NEW DELHI: World Health Organisation (WHO) has, in its latest report on tuberculosis globally, acknowledged progress made in India to eliminate the infection.
According to the report, TB incidence in India has declined by 18%, from 237 per lakh population in 2015 to 195 per lakh population in 2023. This is more than double the pace of decline as compared to the global decline of 8%, the UN health agency suggests.
“This leap in coverage has been a result of the momentum India has created and sustained around TB case finding and reflects the efforts of decentralisation of healthcare services through over 1.7 lakh Ayushman Arogya Mandir across the country,” a health ministry official said.
While WHO had downsized its estimation of TB mortality in India last year, the current report documents the sustained reduction in deaths due to TB achieved by India from 28 per lakh population to 22 per lakh population, a 21% decline. “The TB budget saw a historic 5.3-times leap in allocation from Rs 640 crores in 2015 to Rs 3,400 crores in 2022-23,” the health ministry said. The WHO report notes that a majority of the funding of the TB programme comes from govt resources.
The Centre, health ministry sources said, is procuring over 800 AI-enabled portable chest x-ray machines to complement India’s extensive TB laboratory network – the largest in the world, with 7,767 rapid molecular testing facilities and 87 culture & drug susceptibility testing laboratories spread across the country.
In Sept, govt approved introduction of the BPaLM regimen – a novel treatment for Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis (MDR-TB) under its National TB Elimination Program (NTEP) as a highly effective and shorter treatment option. India has notified 19.8 lakh TB patients (Jan – Sept 2024) as compared to 19 lakhs during the same period in 2023, a 4% increase.