WHO acknowledges India's success in reducing TB incidence, mortality

NEW DELHI: India's Health Ministry said on Wednesday that the World Health Organisation (WHO) has acknowledged India's success in lowering tuberculosis (TB) incidence and mortality since 2015.

"India's efforts have resulted in reduction of TB incidence by 16 per cent in 2022 (from 2015) almost double the pace at which global TB incidence is declining (8.7 per cent). The mortality of TB has also reduced by 18 per cent during the same period in India and globally," the ministry said, reported Xinhua.

"The WHO has made a downward revision of the TB mortality rates from 494,000 in 2021 to 331,000 in 2022, a reduction of over 34 per cent."

The WHO released its Global TB Report 2023 on Tuesday, in which it said India has made tremendous progress in improving case detection and reversed the impact of COVID-19 on the TB programme.

"The treatment coverage has improved to 80 per cent of the estimated TB cases, an increase of 19 per cent over the previous year," the health ministry said.

The report, according to the ministry, noted that India's intensified case detection strategies have resulted in the highest-ever notification of cases in 2022, when over 2.4 million TB cases were notified, surpassing pre-COVID levels.

"India has taken bold steps to prioritise TB elimination efforts with investing additional resources to the National TB Elimination Programme being implemented under the aegis of the National Health Mission," the ministry quoted the report as saying.

--BERNAMA-XINHUA