Govt to expand TB elimination campaign across country

New Delhi: The Union Health Minister J P Nadda on Monday announced that the intensified tuberculosis elimination will be expanded to every district of the country.

The announcement comes in the wake of the Centre’s 100-day campaign in 347 districts in which over seven lakh additional TB patients have been identified and put on treatment.

Under the focussed TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan, over 12.97 crore people were screened for TB with 7.19 lakh TB patients notified across India.

“Approximately 2.85 lakh of the notified patients were asymptomatic, who might have otherwise gone undetected without the stratified screening strategy of the campaign,” Nadda said here at the World TB Day summit.

However, the number of people screened between December 7, 2024 and March 17, 2025 is just about 50 per cent of what the Union Health Ministry initially planned to achieve.

More than six years ago, the Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre announced achieving TB elimination by 2025 – five years ahead of the global deadline - and even made some progress.

But as per the latest WHO report, India’s TB incidence and mortality goals are still way above the milestone goals set up by the Union Health Ministry.

The rate of TB decline in India has doubled from 8.3 per cent in 2015 to 17.7 per cent, much ahead of the global average. Deaths due to TB have also reduced in India by 21.4 per cent in the last 10 years.

But notwithstanding such successes, India’s TB incidence is over two times higher and death rate three times more than the milestone goals set by the Centre to eliminate TB.

With a proven blueprint derived from the 100-days campaign's success, Nadda said the programme would be expanded for more than 750 districts, highlighting its efficient case finding, leveraging of technology and ensuring timely treatment initiation.

The announcement comes on a day when the World Health Organisation says that the tuberculosis elimination programme in South East Asia faces several challenges, primarily dwindling resources from partners and major donors.

“Several of our countries are rolling-out newer diagnostics and drugs, including the newer regimen for drug-resistant forms of TB – and this is impacted by the resource reductions. We need greater investments towards a holistic approach towards TB, that also includes social support for patients,” Saima Wazed, Regional Director for WHO South-East Asia, says in a statement.