Context:
- India accounted for the highest number of tuberculosis (TB) cases in the world in 2022, as revealed by the new World Health Organization (WHO) Global TB Report 2023.
Global TB Report 2023: Key Findings
- India’s Alarming TB Burden: TB Cases in India
- India accounts for 27% of the world’s TB burden.
- Recorded 2.8 million TB cases with a 12% case fatality ratio, estimating 342,000 TB-related deaths.
- MDR-TB Crisis: India recorded 1.1 lakh cases of multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) in 2022.
- Multidrug-resistant TB (MDR TB) is caused by an organism that is resistant to at least isoniazid and rifampin, the two most potent TB drugs.
- These drugs are used to treat all persons with TB disease.
- High-Burden TB Countries
- A total of 30 high-burden TB countries contributed to 87% of the global TB cases in 2022.
- Top eight high-burden countries included Indonesia (10%), China (7.1%), the Philippines (7.0%), Pakistan (5.7%), Nigeria (4.5%), Bangladesh (3.6%), and the Democratic Republic of Congo (3.0%).
- Global Recovery in TB Services
- A record-high 7.5 million people were diagnosed with TB in 2022, marking the highest number since WHO began global TB monitoring in 1995.
- TB incidence rate increased by 3.9% between 2020 and 2022, reversing previous declines.
About Tuberculosis (TB)
- Causal Agent: Mycobacterium tuberculosis
- Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine is given to babies or small children to prevent TB.
- Transmission: Airborne infection, spreads through close contact in poorly ventilated, crowded spaces.
- Symptoms of Active Lung TB:
- Cough with sputum, sometimes containing blood
- Chest pains
- Weakness
- Weight loss
- Fever
- Night sweats
- India’s Initiatives to Eliminate TB
- Under the Pradhan Mantri TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyan, India aims to eliminate TB from the country by 2025 (5 years earlier than the global target of 2030).
- The national strategic plan 2017-2025 sets the target of India reporting no more than 44 new TB cases or 65 total cases per lakh population by 2025.
- An online Ni-kshay portal has been set up to track the notified TB cases.
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News Source: The Indian Express
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November 8, 2023