India TB Report 2024

India TB Report 2024

News: According to the India TB Report 2024 released by the Union Health Ministry, the gap between the estimated number and actual cases of tuberculosis (TB) is closing. 
 It is significant (as the missing cases are assumed to not have received treatment and continue to spread the infection to others). This will contribute to Indias goal of eliminating TB by 2025.

About:
 The annual India TB Report is prepared and published under the National TB Elimination Programme (NTEP) by the Central TB Division of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.
 Published from the year 2001, it captures the policy updates, programme implementation, and state and district wise performance indicators.

Key Findings:
 Reporting of the cases:
o The majority of the TB cases are still reported by the government health centres, even as there has been an uptick in notifications by the private sector.
o Nearly 33% or 8.4 lakh of the 25.5 lakh cases reported in 2023 came from the private sector (only 1.9 lakh cases in 2015).
 The mortality due to the infection: It remained the same at 3.2 lakh as per the data. India’s TB mortality dropped from 4.94 lakhs in 2021 to 3.31 lakhs in 2022.
 Missing cases:
o There were only 2.3 lakh missing cases in 2023, as compared to 3.2 lakh the year before, the report states. This gap has been reducing over the years, especially with the government’s Ni-kshay portal tracking all TB patients.

Key Recommendations
 The report shows that India reached its 2023 target of initiating treatment in 95% of patients diagnosed with the infection.
 It says 58% of those diagnosed were offered a test to check whether their infection was resistant to the first line drugs, an increase from 25% in 2015.
 The report suggests drug susceptibility treatment to ensure that persons with drug-resistant TB have access to medicines from the start, rather than being treated with first-line medication immediately.