India is striving to eliminate Tuberculosis from the country by 2025, five years ahead of the global Sustainable Development Goal. This was stated by Health Minister Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya while addressing the Quad Plus Side Event on Tuberculosis during the 76th World Health Assembly in Geneva. He said that India is the only country in the world to have developed its own mechanism for estimating its TB burden. He added that the country has witnessed a 13 percent reduction in TB incidents from 2015 to 2022, surpassing the global reduction rate of 10 percent.
The Minister also said that TB mortality in India has decreased by 15 percent during the same period, compared to the global reduction rate of 5.9 percent. He said that by employing a mathematical model based on local evidence, the country can now determine the true burden of the disease well ahead of the annual World Health Organization report. Recognizing the importance of early diagnosis, treatment, and preventive measures, Dr. Mandaviya said, India has taken diagnostics and treatment to the patients at the last mile to identify all missing cases and reach the unreached.
