Despite Progress, India Has Highest Tuberculosis Cases In The World: WHO Report

New Delhi: Despite making significant progress in case detection and reversing impact of COVID-19 on the tuberculosis (TB) programme, India had the highest number of TB cases in the world in 2022.

According to the Global TB Report 2023 by World Health Organisation (WHO), there were 28.2 lakh cases in India, which accounted for 27 per cent of total TB cases in the world.

About 12 per cent (3,42,000 patients) died succumbed to the disease kin India, stated the report.

The report revealed that just 30 countries accounted for as much as 87 per cent of world’s TB cases.

Following India in the incidence of cases were Indonesia (10 per cent), China (7.1 per cent), Philippines (7 per cent), Pakistan (5.7 per cent), Nigeria (4.5 per cent), Bangladesh (3.6 per cent) and Democratic Republic of Congo (3 per cent).

India has managed to reduce the number of TB cases from 258 patients per 1,00,000 people in 2015, to 199 per 1,00,000 people in 2022. However, it is still far higher than global average of 133 per 100,000 people.

As for case fertility ratio (CFR), India was at 12 per cent – in other words, 12 out of 100 TB patients died. The global average is almost half, at 5.8 per cent.

India, thus, has a long way to go in controlling the dreaded disease.