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India has achieved a remarkable 16% reduction in the incidence of tuberculosis (TB), exceeding the global average of 8.7%, announced Union Health Minister Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya. Speaking at the 37th STOP TB Partnership Board Meeting, Dr. Mandaviya highlighted India’s commitment to ending TB by 2025, five years ahead of the global target of 2030.
Addressing the meeting, Dr. Mandaviya revealed that the number of missing TB cases in India has drastically decreased from 1 million in 2015 to 0.26 million in 2023. This significant progress underscores India’s relentless efforts in combating TB, a global health challenge for decades.
Acknowledging the collective efforts of various stakeholders, Dr. Mandaviya emphasized India’s focus on prevention strategies while ensuring widespread coverage of TB detection and treatment services. He credited the success to targeted engagements with the private sector, which witnessed a notable increase in TB notifications by more than 8 times over the past 9 years.
In 2023, 0.84 million TB patients were notified from the private sector, contributing to 33% of total notifications—a record high. Dr. Mandaviya attributed this success to India’s “Jan Bhagidhari” approach, meaning people’s participation, which has been pivotal in mobilizing communities to join the fight against TB.
Highlighting key initiatives, Dr. Mandaviya mentioned the Pradhan Mantri TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyan, the world’s largest crowd-sourcing initiative, which has enlisted over 1,50,000 “Ni-kshay Mitra” to support more than 1 million TB patients with nutritional and other essential assistance.
Additionally, Dr. Mandaviya underscored the launch of the Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra, an outreach program that screened over 38 million individuals for TB and facilitated over 1 million referrals for TB testing. He also highlighted initiatives such as the ‘TB Mukt Panchayat’ program, the procurement of over 5 million courses of TB preventive treatment drug, and the provision of TB services at the community level through Ayushman Arogya Mandirs.
Dr. Mandaviya urged global cooperation in creating large-scale preventive interventions to address social determinants and accelerate TB vaccination efforts to achieve sustainable development goals targets for TB. As India continues its relentless pursuit of ending TB, Dr. Mandaviya called upon nations to collaborate in the global fight against this deadly disease.
