New Delhi,
The World Health Organisation’s TB report released today said India recorded 21.4 lakh TB cases in 2021, 18 per cent higher than 2020.
The WHO report notes the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the diagnosis, treatment and burden of the disease all over the world.
The Ministry of Health today said it had taken note of the report and added that India had, in fact, performed far better on major metrics as compared to other countries over time.
18% higher than 2020
- India’s TB incidence for 2021 is 210 per 1,00,000 population — compared to the baseline year of 2015
- One out of every four TB cases worldwide is in India
“India’s TB incidence for 2021 is 210 per 1,00,000 population — compared to the baseline year of 2015 (incidence was 256 per lakh of population in India); there has been an 18 per cent decline, which is 7 percentage points better than the global average of 11 per cent. These figures also place India at the 36th position in terms of incidence rates (from largest to smallest incidence numbers),” the government said.
While the pandemic impacted TB programmes across the world, India was able to successfully offset the disruptions caused, through the introduction of critical interventions in 2020 and 2021 — this led to the National TB Elimination Programme notifying over 21.4 lakh TB cases — 18 per cent higher than 2020, the ministry explained.
It said this success could be attributed to an array of forward-looking measures implemented by the programme over the years, such as the mandatory notification policy to ensure all cases are reported to the government. “Further, intensified door-to-door active case finding drives to screen patients and ensure no household is missed, has been a pillar of the programme. In 2021, over 22 crore people were screened for TB,” the government said.
