World TB Day Today: India Steps Up Fight to Eliminate TB with New Campaign

The Union government will mark World TB Day today, observed annually on March 24 to commemorate the 1882 discovery of the tuberculosis bacterium by Robert Koch , with a renewed push to eliminate Tuberculosis. Union Health Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda will launch a 100-day intensified campaign alongside new digital and urban interventions.

The “TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan – 100 Days Campaign” will focus on aggressive case detection , improved treatment adherence and last-mile delivery of services, particularly in high-burden districts. The government will also launch a TB Mukt Bharat App for patient tracking and an Urban Ward Initiative targeting densely populated areas where transmission remains high.

India continues to carry the world’s highest TB burden , accounting for nearly one-fourth of global cases . However, progress has been steady. TB incidence in the country has declined by an estimated 16–18 percent between 2015 and 2023 , while deaths have fallen by over 20 percent . Globally, TB mortality has dropped by nearly 70–80 percent since 1990 , though the pace of decline has slowed in recent years due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the rise of drug-resistant TB .

Experts attribute the persistence of TB in India to structural factors such as poverty, overcrowding and malnutrition , along with delayed diagnosis , which allows continued transmission. Long treatment durations also contribute to non-adherence , fuelling relapse and multidrug resistance.

The government’s elimination strategy under the National Tuberculosis Elimination Programme centres on early detection , universal drug-susceptibility testing , free treatment , nutritional support and digital monitoring systems . Community engagement and targeted screening in vulnerable populations remain key pillars.

India administers the BCG vaccine to newborns, which protects against severe forms of TB in children but offers limited protection in adults . Several new vaccine candidates are currently under development globally.

Aligned with the theme “Yes! We Can End TB!” , the latest initiatives aim to accelerate progress towards eliminating TB as a public health problem , a goal India has set ahead of global targets.