Tuberculosis Continues to Wreak Havoc in India, Says WHO Report
Just six countries accounted for 60% of the world’s new TB cases — India, Indonesia, China, Nigeria, Pakistan and South Africa. Of these, people living with HIV accounting for 1.2 million (11%) of the new cases.
India accounts for 2.8 million of the 10.4 million new tuberculosis cases globally, according to the World Health Organisation Global TB Report 2016 which revised and raised its global estimates in 2016 after improved surveillance data from India registered a 34% spike in new cases.
Now, according to the Global TB Report 2017 released by World Health Organization (WHO), India continues to have the highest number of tuberculosis (TB) cases in the world.
According to the report, Multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) remains a public health crisis and a health security threat. WHO estimates that worldwide, there were 600,000 new TB cases with resistance to rifampicin—the most effective first-line drug, of which 490,000 had MDR-TB. Almost half of these cases were in India, China, and the Russian Federation.
The report highlighted that underreporting and underdiagnosis of TB cases continue to be a challenge, especially in countries with large unregulated private sectors and weak health systems, including India.
“Of the estimated 10.4 million new cases, only 6.3 million were detected and officially notified in 2016, leaving a gap of 4.1 million. India, Indonesia, and Nigeria accounted for almost half of this global gap,
” the report stated.“Only one in five MDR-TB cases was started on treatment. India and China accounted for 39% of the global gap. Treatment success remains low, at 54% globally,” the report said.
India is a signatory to the WHO’s ‘The End TB Strategy’ that calls for a world free of tuberculosis, with measurable aims of a 50% and 75% reduction in incidence and deaths, respectively by 2025, and corresponding reductions of 90% and 95% by 2035. To meet these targets, India is adopting newer strategies, such as increasing rapid molecular diagnostics, Cartridge Based Nucleic Acid Amplification (CBNAAT) sites provide rapid decentralised diagnosis of MDR-TB, and use of bedaquiline, a new anti-TB drug through conditional access to treat drug-resistant TB.
“Shortfalls in TB funding are one of the main reasons why progress is not fast enough to be on track to reach the end TB targets,” said Katherine Floyd, coordinator of WHO’s Monitoring and Evaluation Unit at the Global TB Programme.
“We have a double challenge. More domestic funding is needed in middle-income countries, and more international donor support is needed to support low-income countries,” Floyd said.
“Despite these achievements, the latest picture is grim. TB remains the top infectious killer in 2016. TB is also the main cause of deaths related to antimicrobial resistance and the leading killer of people with HIV. Progress in most countries is stalling and is not fast enough to reach global targets or close persistent gaps in TB care and prevention,” the report said.
