NEW DELHI, Nov 9 (NNN-PTI) – India’s Health Ministry said yesterday 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 percent in 2022 (from 2015), almost double the pace at which global TB incidence is declining (8.7 percent). The mortality of TB has also reduced by 18 percent, during the same period, in India and globally,” the ministry said.
“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 percent.”
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 percent of the estimated TB cases, an increase of 19 percent 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.– NNN-PTI