Prime minister Narendra Modi has written to all chief ministers to hold quarterly reviews of the TB control programme
“It is incumbent upon us to address this challenge in a mission mode. I request you to kindly review the the progress of the programme at least every quarter and closely monitor key performance indicators like case notification (including from private sector), treatment success rate, active case finding and HR vacancy,” Modi wrote in a letter dated December 14.
There are about 29 lakh new TB cases every year and about 4.20 lakh people, mostly poor, are estimated to to die annually on account of TB
Among the countries with the highest TB burden in the world, India is still grappling to reach all patients, despite a 2012 notification making notification of all TB cases mandatory. Highlighting the gravity of the situation, prime minister wrote: “There are about 29 lakh new TB cases every year and about 4.20 lakh people, mostly poor, are estimated to to die annually on account of TB, leaving lakhs of children orphaned. Economic loss on account of TB in India is estimated to be about Rs 20,000 crore per annum. We cannot allow such human tragedies for a disease which is treatable and for which drugs and diagnostics are available in the public healthcare system.”
India registered a 37% jump in TB cases between 2013-16 according to the latest WHO TB report, the increase is because of higher rates of notification but if senior health ministry sources are to be believed, the rate of increase is still not high enough to give policymakers the confidence that all patients have been reached.
The TB report also lauded the government for increased health spend and Modi for the 2025 commitment. “India stood out as a country in which the budget envelope for TB was substantially increased in 2017 (to US$ 525 million, almost double the level of 2016), following political commitment from the Prime Minister to the goal of ending TB by 2025. The budget is fully funded, including US$ 387 million (74%) from domestic sources (triple the amount of US$ 124 million in 2016) and the remainder (26%) from international donor sources,” says the Global Tuberculosis Report 2017.
