by S K Arora
India’s fight against tuberculosis is at a critical juncture. Despite being preventable and curable, TB continues to impose a substantial public health burden, with India contributing nearly a quarter of global cases. This paradox highlights a fundamental gap — not of treatment availability, but of timely detection.
India’s TB mukt Abhiyan with strong Political commitment especially at our Hon’ble Prime Minister level has created very significant progress in Eliminating TB from India, much ahead of rest of the countries. India’s TB incidence (new cases emerging each year) reduced by 21% – from 237 per lakh population in 2015 to 187 per lakh population in 2024 – over almost double the pace of the decline observed globally at 12 %, as per the WHO report and country’s treatment coverage has increased to over 92% patients in 2024, from 53% in 2015.
Under the National Tuberculosis Elimination Programme (NTEP), India has significantly expanded diagnostic and treatment services. Yet, a large number of patients remain undiagnosed or are diagnosed too late. These “missing patients” are central to ongoing transmission, silently spreading infection within households and communities.
Traditional reliance on passive case detection — waiting for patients to seek care — is insufficient in settings marked by stigma, low awareness, and access barriers. Recognising this, the 100-day intensified TB screening campaign represents a strategic shift toward active case finding.
By taking screening services directly into communities through door-to-door outreach, mobile diagnostic units, and targeted interventions, the campaign has improved early detection, particularly among high-risk groups such as household contacts, individuals with diabetes, HIV, Dialysis, Chronic Smokers, drug addicts, the elderly, health workers and those living in dense urban settlements.
Technological integration has further strengthened this approach. Portable digital X-ray systems and rapid molecular diagnostics like CBNAAT enable early and accurate diagnosis, including drug-resistant TB.
However, an important policy question remains: should such campaigns remain episodic, or be institutionalised within routine primary healthcare systems? Sustainable impact will depend on integrating active case finding into regular health service delivery.
Urban settings like Delhi underscore this urgency, where population density and socio-economic factors sustain transmission dynamics.
India’s goal of eliminating TB by 2025/ at the earliest is ambitious but achievable. It requires not just expanding services, but redesigning how the health system reaches the unreached.
On World TB Day, the message is clear —” Eliminating TB will depend on finding those who remain invisible.”
Dr S K Arora
Senior Chest Specialist
Consultant, SAG
Guru Gobind Singh Govt Hospital,
Govt of Delhi
