Causes and Treatment of TB: The World Health Organization has released this year's global TB report. There is both good and bad news for India. Year after year, India is succeeding in controlling TB patients but India is still lagging behind the world in the TB race. India has the highest number of TB patients in the world.

Increasing number of incurable TB cases

Last year, 75 lakh people across the world suffered from TB (WHO TB Report) in 2022. Of these, 4 lakh people have developed MDR TB i.e. drug-resistant TB. No medicine for TB (Causes of TB) is working on these patients. This usually happens due to frequent interruption of medicines and this TB becomes almost incurable. Among those who will become victims of TB in the year 2022, 55% are men, 33% are women and 12% are children. Of these, 13 lakh people died.

Most patients in these 3 countries

On average, more than 1 crore people are getting TB every year across the world. On average, 133 out of every 10 thousand people get TB every year. In India, this figure is 210 patients per 10 thousand. The highest decline in TB patients has been recorded in India, Indonesia, and the Philippines. Overall, cases decreased by 60 percent from these three countries alone.

India is number one in terms of TB

However, India is in the first position in increasing the number of TB patients worldwide (WHO TB Report). 27 percent of the total cases are being registered from India. Two-thirds of the total cases are being reported from eight countries of the world. These are the countries

  • India 27%
  • Indonesia 10%
  • China 7%
  • Philippines 7%
  • Pakistan 5.7%
  • Nigeria 4.5%
  • Bangladesh 3.6%
  • Congo 3%

A new TB reporting system implemented

This year, the government has implemented a new system for recording the reporting of TB patients (WHO TB Report), due to which the figures recorded by WHO have been improved this year. Due to this India's graph is better than before but still India is far behind the target in terms of TB patients. India along with the world aims to become TB-free by 2025 i.e. in the next two years. The presence of TB patients in any corner of the world means that no country can consider itself safe from TB. At present, the figures in India are showing that this target will be difficult for everyone.

The government is wasting money on water

The government (TB Update in India) is also spending money on water for TB patients. From 2018 to December 2022, Rs 2,90 crore has been given to 71 lakh TB patients under the Ni-Kshay Nutrition Scheme. Last year, 1 crore 40 lakh sputum tests, and 58 lakh nucleic acid amplification tests (NAAT) tests were conducted, the expenses of which were borne by the government. 6,31,683 (4.5%) were confirmed to have TB through these tests.

Appeal for adoption of TB patients

Apart from this, the Ni-Kshay Mitra (TB Update in India) scheme was introduced, in which people were asked to adopt TB patients and bear the expenses of their treatment. Under this scheme, by January 2023, 58 thousand people have taken the responsibility of providing treatment and food to 9 lakh TB patients. The government had also appealed to all political parties and leaders to work on the treatment of TB patients in their respective areas.

26 percent of the world's TB patients are in India.

According to government data, the government's TB Prevention Treatment program has reached 722 districts. But even today India has the highest number of TB patients in the world. According to WHO, 26 percent of the world's TB patients (TB Update in India) are in India. That means every fourth TB patient in the world is present in India. WHO has set a target of reducing TB patients by 10 percent every year to eliminate TB in India by 2025. According to the government, 32% of TB patients were cured in one year but the number of patients also increased rapidly.

Photo Credits: Google