• Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda announced scaling up of the tuberculosis (TB) elimination campaign to cover all districts in India.

• He was addressing the World TB Day 2025 summit in New Delhi on March 24.

• Launched on December 7, 2024 and initially implemented in 445 districts, the 100-Day Intensified TB Elimination Campaign aims to accelerate the fight against the disease by improving detection and treatment of TB cases.

• India’s TB elimination strategy is based on ‘whole of the society’ and ‘whole of the government’ approach, he said.

World Tuberculosis Day

• World Tuberculosis Day is observed every year on March 24 to raise awareness about the need to eliminate TB, the world’s deadliest infectious disease. The day marks the discovery of the TB-causing bacterium by Dr. Robert Koch in 1882. India has been observing this day since 1982.

• India’s goal to eliminate TB by 2025 is one of the world’s most ambitious health missions. Under the National Tuberculosis Elimination Programme (NTEP), India has strengthened its TB response with advanced diagnostics, innovative policies, private sector partnerships, and a patient-first approach.

• Despite global efforts, TB remains a major public health challenge worldwide, with India bearing the highest burden. Understanding both the global and national estimates is key to gauging the scale of the disease and the urgency of India’s elimination mission.

• In 2020, the government of India renamed the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Program (RNTCP) as the National TB Elimination Program (NTEP). 

• This reflects India’s goal to eliminate tuberculosis (TB) by 2025, five years before the global target of 2030. 

Key facts about TB:

• Tuberculosis is caused by bacteria (Mycobacterium tuberculosis) that most often affect the lungs. It can spread when people who are sick with TB expel bacteria into the air – for example, by coughing.

• Every year, 10 million people fall ill with TB. Despite being a preventable and curable disease, 1.5 million people die from TB each year.

• TB is the leading cause of death of people with HIV and also a major contributor to antimicrobial resistance.

• Most people who develop the disease are adults.

• TB is preventable and curable. About 85 per cent of people who develop TB disease can be successfully treated with a 4/6-month drug regimen. Treatment has the added benefit of curtailing onward transmission of infection.

• Economic and financial barriers can affect access to health care for TB diagnosis and completion of TB treatment; about half of TB patients and their households face catastrophic total costs due to TB disease. 

• Progress towards universal health coverage (UHC), better levels of social protection and multisectoral action on broader TB determinants are all essential to reduce the burden of TB disease.

Highlights of 100-Day Intensified TB Elimination Campaign

• As many as 12.97 crore people were screened for TB with 7.19 lakh new cases detected from December 7, 2024 to March 17.

• Of these, approximately 2.85 lakh cases were asymptomatic and might have gone undetected without the stratified screening strategy.

• As part of the campaign, modern technology was leveraged to improve case detection, reduce diagnostic delays and ensure timely treatment initiation, particularly for vulnerable populations.

• It included handheld X-ray units and upfront Nucleic Acid Amplification Testing (NAAT), some of which were deployed using mobile vans (Nikshay Vahans).

• This helped the campaign shatter geographical barriers and brought vital screening and diagnostic services to remote and underserved areas.

• The campaign strategically screened vulnerable populations, including asymptomatic individuals, household contacts of TB patients, those with a history of TB, undernourished individuals and those with chronic comorbidities such as diabetes and HIV.

• Over 13.46 lakh ‘Nikshay Shivirs’, or community screening and awareness camps, were organised in the districts bringing essential TB services directly to the doorstep of crores of people.

• TB treatment coverage in India has increased from 59 per cent to 85 per cent.

• As many as 22 ministries supported the 100-day campaign and more than 30,000 elected representatives were mobilised for the common cause, demonstrating that the fight against TB is a collective mission.

• In just 100 days, over 1,05,181 new ‘Nikshay Mitras’ have registered and distributed over 3,06,368 food baskets among TB patients and their family members.

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