The hurdles in India’s fight to eliminate TB, Pg16

Key Highlights:

• In 2024, India recorded approximately 27.1 lakh TB cases and over 3 lakh deaths, the highest globally, according to the Global TB Report 2025.
• India achieved only a 21% reduction in new TB cases and a 28% reduction in deaths between 2015 and 2024, falling short of the End TB Strategy milestones.
• Treatment coverage in India improved to 92% in 2024 from 85% in 2023, attributed to innovative case finding and newer technologies.
• India accounts for nearly a third of global drug-resistant TB cases; in 2024, 12.63% of previously treated cases and 3.64% of new cases were drug-resistant.

Detailed Insights:

• India's target to eliminate TB by 2025, set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2018, is unlikely to be achieved, as the country has not met the WHO's End TB Strategy milestones for 2025.
• The BPaL regimen, which reduces treatment time for resistant infections from 18-24 months to 6 months, has contributed to the expansion of treatment coverage in India.
• Challenges remain in the availability of common TB drugs and preparations for childhood TB, as well as ensuring timely transfer of nutritional support to vulnerable patients.
• The TN-KET programme in Tamil Nadu demonstrates the effectiveness of a differentiated care model in reducing mortality by triaging and managing vulnerable TB patients.
• Innovations such as AI-enabled X-ray devices and active screening campaigns have led to the detection of over 24.5 lakh TB cases, including 8.61 lakh asymptomatic cases.
• Factors such as the Covid-19 pandemic, incomplete treatment, air pollution, and comorbidities like diabetes hinder India's progress in combating TB.

Key Concepts Involved:

• Tuberculosis (TB): An infectious disease caused by bacteria that typically affects the lungs.
• Drug-resistant TB: A form of TB where the bacteria are resistant to one or more anti-TB drugs.
• End TB Strategy: A WHO initiative aiming for an 80% decline in new TB cases and a 90% decline in TB deaths by 2030.
• BPaL regimen: A shorter, all-oral treatment regimen for drug-resistant TB, reducing treatment time to 6 months.