Tuberculosis or Tuberculosis (TB) is a serious problem that can affect a person of any age. The Government of India is working on the target of eliminating TB disease by the year 2025, although the way the cases of TB patients have increased in recent years, this target seems quite difficult. However, the recent figures coming out about TB disease in the country are giving some relief.

Union Health Minister JP Nadda told the Lok Sabha on Friday that the rate of TB cases in India has decreased. In the year 2015, 237 people per one lakh population had this disease, which has come down by 17.7 percent to 195 per one lakh population in 2023. However, these figures are still far away from the target of eliminating TB from the country.

Responding to a question in Parliament, he said that deaths due to TB have also come down by 21.4 percent, from 28 per lakh population in 2015 to 22 per lakh population in 2023. Efforts made to prevent this disease in the country are showing good results.

Success achieved in the treatment of drug-resistant TB

The Government of India is continuously working towards eliminating TB from the country. The Health Minister said, the threat of drug-resistant TB was seen increasing rapidly in the country, for this oral medicine was introduced in the year 2021. With the help of this initiative, great success has been achieved in the treatment of drug-resistant TB. The success rate of treatment of drug-resistant TB, which was 68 percent in the year 2020, has increased to 75 percent in 2022 after this medicine.

The Government of India has implemented a National Strategic Plan (2017-2025) aimed at eliminating TB by 2025. The Ministry has implemented the National Tuberculosis Elimination Program (NTEP) under the aegis of the National Health Mission (NHM).

What did the Health Minister say?

Regarding the efforts to eliminate TB in the country, the Health Minister said, NTEP has made significant efforts to make India TB-free. The steps taken for TB elimination in all states and union territories (UTs) have seen good results.

The government has made many efforts like integrating Ayushman Arogya Mandir with TB screening and treatment services and increasing private sector participation with incentives for notification and management of TB cases. This has helped a lot in reducing the stigma about TB disease, increasing community awareness, and improving health-related behavior.

The goal of TB elimination is still far away.

With the help of all the efforts, TB treatment in the country has helped in reducing its cases, but it is still far from the goal of eliminating TB from the country.

Due to this serious infection in the lungs, 25.37 lakh cases were registered in India in the year 2023. Earlier in 2022, about 24.22 lakh people were diagnosed with this disease. Most of the cases were reported by government health centers, and a large number of cases are also being diagnosed in the private sector. Not only this, health experts say, there may be a large number of people who have this disease but have not been diagnosed, which increases the risk of infection.

About 25% of global TB is from India alone.
The information revealed about TB shows that the cases reported in India still account for about 25% of the global TB. Highlighting the serious occupational risks in the health sector, a study found that TB cases are much higher among health workers in India than in the general population, as health workers have more contact with patients.

Health experts say that if a cough persists for more than two weeks and there is phlegm or blood, chest pain, weakness, or fatigue, then it can be a sign of TB. It becomes very important to pay serious attention to such symptoms and get treatment.

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