Where does India stand in tackling TB?

For Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international Significance

For Mains Examination: GS III - Science and Technology

Context:

The World Health Organization (WHO) released its Global Tuberculosis Report 2025 this week which states that TB remains one of the world’s deadliest infections, claiming over 12 lakh lives and affecting an estimated 1.07 crore people in 2024

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World Health Organization (WHO)

National TB Elimination Programme (NTEP)

Key takeaways:

The World Health Organization (WHO) released its Global Tuberculosis Report 2025 this week, confirming that TB continues to be one of the most lethal infectious diseases worldwide. In 2024 alone, the illness claimed more than 12 lakh lives and affected an estimated 1.07 crore people.

Countries with the Highest Disease Burden

According to the report, 87% of global TB cases in 2024 were concentrated in 30 high-burden countries. The largest shares were recorded in:

• India – 25%

• Indonesia – 10%

• Philippines – 6.8%

• China – 6.5%

• Pakistan – 6.3%

• Nigeria – 4.8%

• Democratic Republic of the Congo – 3.9%

• Bangladesh – 3.6%

The WHO noted that although progress has been made in detection, treatment, and new technologies, gaps in funding and uneven access to healthcare continue to threaten overall progress.

India’s Position in the Report

• India contributes a major share of the world’s TB cases, yet it has recorded a 21% fall in TB incidence, dropping from 237 per lakh people (2015) to 187 per lakh (2024)—a decline almost twice as fast as the global average.
• The Union Health Ministry highlighted that treatment coverage has risen to 92%, placing India ahead of other high-burden nations.
• In 2025, Uttar Pradesh reported the highest number of TB cases, followed by Maharashtra, Bihar, and Madhya Pradesh. Although these states have the most cases numerically, Delhi shows the highest prevalence rate of TB infection.

Major Challenges

In 2020, India renamed the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme (RNTCP) to the National TB Eliminat