News: Union Minister for Health released the annual Tuberculosis(TB) Report 2020.
Facts:
Key Highlights:
- TB Cases: Over 24 lakh TB patients have been notified in 2019.This amounts to a 14% increase in TB notification as compared to 2018.
- TB Deaths: The report shows 79,144 deaths due to tuberculosis were reported in 2019 which is much lower than the WHO estimate of 4.4 lakh fatalities.
- TB cases in Children’s: The proportion of children diagnosed with TB increased to 8% in 2019 compared to 6% in 2018.
- Missing cases: There has been a reduction in the number of missing cases to 2.9 lakh cases in 2019 as against more than 10 lakhs in 2017.
- HIV associated TB Deaths: India accounts for 9% of all HIV-associated tuberculosis (TB) deaths in the world, the second-highest number globally.
- Treatment: Expansion of treatment services has resulted in a 12% improvement in the treatment success rate of notified patients.For 2019, it was 81% compared to 69% in 2018.
- States: Over half of the total TB cases were notified from five states — Uttar Pradesh(20%), Maharashtra(9%), Madhya Pradesh(8%) Rajasthan(7%) and Bihar(7%).
Ranking of States: The Central TB Division(CTD) has introduced a quarterly ranking on TB elimination efforts by all the states and UTs:
- Larger states with more than 50 lakh population: Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh were awarded as best performing States.
- Smaller states with less than 50 lakh population: Tripura and Nagaland were awarded.
- Union Territories: Dadara and Nagar Haveli, and Daman & Diu were chosen as the best performers.
Additional Facts:
- Tuberculosis(TB): It is an infectious airborne bacterial disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
- Nikshay Poshan Yojana: It is a direct benefit transfer (DBT) scheme to provide nutritional support to TB patients.
- National Strategic Plan (NSP) for TB Elimination (2017-2025): It is a framework to provide guidance for the activities of various stakeholders to reduce the burden of TB mortality and morbidity.It aims to work towards the elimination of TB in India by 2025.
