Why in the news?
Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare released India TB Report 2024.
Major Findings of the Report
- Notified TB patients: 25.52 lakh TB patients in 2023 (increase from 24.22 lakh cases in 2022).
- Reporting of cases: ~67% reporting being done by the public sector and ~33%) from private sector.
- Treatment Success rate among notified Drug-Resistant TB (DR-TB): 65%
- Achievements:
- Target of initiating treatment in 95% of patients diagnosed with the infection was achieved in 2023.
- Decline in Incidence of TB (new cases emerging each year): 16% in comparison to 2015
- Reduction in mortality: 18% in comparison to 2015
- Increase in proportion of notified TB patients receiving financial support through Direct Benefit Transfer: 70% (against a target of 90% by 2023)
About Tuberculosis
- It is an infectious disease caused by bacillus Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacteria which most often affects lungs and is known as pulmonary TB.
- Extrapulmonary TB is the TB which affects other areas of the body. (e.g. gastrointestinal TB, skeletal TB, liver TB)
- Transmission: By air when an infected person coughs, speaks, laughs, sings, or sneezes.
- Common symptoms: Prolonged cough (sometimes with blood), chest pain, weakness, fatigue, weight loss, fever, night sweats.
- Tests for Identification: Xpert MTB, RIF Ultra and Truenat assays.
- Treatment: Tuberculosis is preventable and curable.
- Most common medications include isoniazid, rifampin, ethambutol, pyrazinamide, streptomycin etc.
- Bacillle Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine is also available for its prevention.
- Drug-Resistant TB are Tuberculosis that doesn't respond to standard drugs.
Way Forward
- Enable Early Detection by increasing the use of chest X-ray, strengthening of referral networksfor better screening of patients.
- Precise Treatment Categorization such as resistance status of TB at the beginning of diagnosis can help in assigning appropriate treatment regimens.
- Long-term and sustained treatment should be ensured by regular follow-ups and considering portability of treatment.
- Nutritional Support to patients (E.g. a 2023 Lancet study found that nutritional support in a 'RATIONS' trial in Jharkhand reduced the risk of death in lung TB patients).
- Dynamic Notification System for improved notification system to capture real-time TB data.
- Decentralizing TB service delivery to the level of "Ayushman Arogya Mandirs".
- E.g., TB-WIN platform was launched in India for registration of the Adult BCG Vaccination beneficiaries.
- Increase Investment can lead to better outcomes.
- As per WHO study, for every dollar spent on screening of TB, there is potential benefit of $39.
India's Initiatives
WHO Initiative
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