India's TB Deaths Fall 38% Since 2015, Outpacing Global Decline: WHO Report

(MENAFN- Live Mint) New Delhi: India has recorded a 38% reduction in tuberculosis (TB) mortality since 2015, outperforming the global decline of 35%, the Union health ministry said on Thursday. Highlighted in the World Health Organization's (WHO) Global Tuberculosis Report 2026 released on Thursday, the findings also showed that the country achieved a 94% treatment success rate among drug-susceptible TB patients.

According to the WHO report, India's estimated TB mortality rate dropped from 280 per million people in 2015 to 180 per million in 2025. Meanwhile, a nationally representative TB prevalence survey conducted in 2025 by the Indian Council of Medical Research-National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis (ICMR-NIRT) has been shared with the WHO. The findings are currently under technical review, after which the WHO will publish an updated country profile for India.

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The health ministr added that 96% of India's TB programme funding requirements are now met through domestic resources. The ministry also highlighted how the TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan has transformed detection through technological innovation. Between December 2024 and November 2026, more than 250 million people were brought under TB screening. Authorities conducted over 11 crore chest X-rays-using portable, AI-enabled diagnostic tools-alongside more than 30 million rapid molecular nucleic acid amplification tests (NAAT). This identified 4.86 million new TB cases, including 1.49 million asymptomatic patients.

The first intensified 100-day campaign under the TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan was launched on 7 December 2024, across 347 high-priority districts in 33 states and Union territories before being expanded nationwide. A second intensified 100-day campaign was launched on 24 March 2026, focusing on screening in 158,000 high-risk villages and wards, congregate settings, and vulnerable populations. Following these efforts, 67,933 Panchayats were declared TB-free in 2025.

Tech and nutrition push

Under the National TB Elimination Programme (NTEP), interventions include proactive case finding, rapid diagnostics, prompt treatment initiation, differentiated TB care, and TB preventive treatment. The programme also uses artificial intelligence tools to identify hotspots and predict high-risk TB cases prone to adverse outcomes, alongside the Khushi AI chatbot and avatar videobot. Patient tracking, treatment monitoring, and programme management are supported through the Ni-kshay digital platform. TB screening has also been integrated with the identification and management of diabetes, undernutrition, and other comorbidities.

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Nutritional support is provided through the Ni-kshay Poshan Yojana, which gives eligible patients financial assistance towards nutritional requirements during treatment, and the Ni-kshay Mitra initiative, where individuals, institutions and organisations provide nutritional and psychosocial support.

The ministry said public participation has been driven through Panchayati Raj Institutions, urban local bodies, elected representatives, civil society organisations, private healthcare providers, community leaders, and corporate partners. Additionally, joint squad for health (Josh) teams are being constituted at the block and ward levels to involve youth in community outreach and awareness.

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To estimate TB mortality, the WHO report incorporated evidence from the registrar general of India's sample registration system, community-based verbal autopsy assessments, and programme data from the Ni-kshay portal.

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