The Government of India announced its plan to eliminate tuberculosis (TB) by 2025.The declaration is extraordinarily ambitious, considering that India accounts for 27% of the world's 10.4 million new TB cases, and 29% of the 1.8 million TB deaths globally.

According to the recent Global TB Report 2019 of WHO, India continued at the top of the list of patients with tuberculosis. The report estimated that 10 million people had TB in 2018, India accounted for 27 per cent of the world total. India also had 27 per cent of a total 130,000 drug-resistant TB cases while China had 14 per cent and the Russian Federation 9 percent. TB treatment rate was only 74 per cent and the treatment success rate 81 per cent against a target of 90 per cent for both by 2022.

What is Tuberculosis (TB)?

Tuberculosis (TB) is caused by a bacterium called Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The bacteria usually attack the lungs, but TB bacteria can attack any part of the body such as the kidney, spine, and brain. It is a communicable disease which is spread from person to person through the air. It is curable and preventable, however, bacteria have become resistant to various strains of antibiotic leading multiple drug-resistant TB which is difficult to treat. According to the WHO, it is one of the top 10 leading causes of death worldwide.

Initiatives taken by India :

Tuberculosis has been in existence since time immemorial and continues to remain a major global public health problem. Despite the progress made over the last decade, TB remains the leading infectious killer disease worldwide. 

India’s role and contribution towards strengthening multisectoral action and progress towards ending TB, especially in the context of the COVID-19 crisis India has taken several critical steps towards ending TB. India is committed to achieving the SDG goal of eliminating TB in the country by 2025. In order to achieve the target and align with the SDG, the existing programme Revised National Tuberculosis Control Program (RNTCP) has been upgraded to Intensified National Tuberculosis Elimination Program (NTEP). 

Swasth E-Gurukul TB and myriad TB Awareness Media Campaigns- They would focus on awareness and also on fighting stigma and discrimination prevalent against TB patients. The strategic plan envisions a TB Corpus Fund maintained by Bharat Kshay Niyantran Pratishtan.

E-Nikshay platform- It is developed and maintained by the Central TB Division (CTD), Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in collaboration with the National Informatics Centre (NIC), and the World Health Organization. It is the web-enabled patient management system for TB control under the National Tuberculosis Elimination Programme (NTEP). 

TB Harega Desh Jeetega Campaign: It was Launched In September 2019 and it is showcasing the highest level of commitment for the elimination of TB.

The Saksham Project: It is a project of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) that has been providing psycho-social counselling to DR-TB patients.