New Delhi: India is the only country in the world to have developed its own mechanism for estimating its tuberculosis burden as it strives to eliminate the disease by 2025, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said on Thursday.
Speaking at a Quad Plus side event on tuberculosis during the 76th World Health Assembly in Geneva, he also announced that the country has witnessed a 13 per cent reduction in TB incidence from 2015 to 2022, surpassing the global reduction rate of 10 per cent.
Additionally, TB mortality in India has decreased by 15 per cent during the same period, compared to the global reduction rate of 5.9 per cent.
India, he said, is the only country in the world to have developed its own mechanism for estimating its TB burden. By employing a mathematical model based on local evidence, India can now determine the true burden of the disease well ahead of the annual World Health Organisation report, Mandaviya said.
In his address, the minister emphasised on the significance of the upcoming UN meeting on tuberculosis scheduled for September as an opportunity to evaluate the collective progress made towards ending TB, a statement here said.
He commended India’s dedication in striving to eliminate TB by 2025, five years ahead of the global Sustainable Development Goal.
Recognising the importance of early diagnosis, treatment, and preventive measures, Mandaviya said, “To identify all missing cases and reach the ‘unreached’, India has taken diagnostics and treatment to the patients at the last mile.”
“To ensure universal health coverage to each and every patient, we have established over 1.5 lakh health and wellness centres which provide TB diagnostics and care to all patients, along with a host of other primary healthcare services. This has been especially beneficial to people residing in hard-to-reach areas of our country, ensuring universal health coverage even in remote areas,” he said.
Mandaviya also highlighted India’s successful collaboration with the private sector, enabling quality care for TB patients through their preferred centres, clinics, and doctors. As a result, notifications from the private sector have increased more than sevenfold over the past nine years, the statement said
Addressing the issue of stigma associated with TB, Mandaviya highlighted India’s pioneering community engagement mechanism, the Pradhan Mantri TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan (PMTBMBA).