India announces plan to end tuberculosis by 2025

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced a comprehensive plan to eliminate tuberculosis (TB) in India by the year 2025. This ambitious target is five years ahead of the global deadline set by the UN's sustainable development goals. India carries the world's highest burden of TB, making this initiative a significant step forward in combating the disease.

The initiative, known as the TB Free India campaign, underscores Prime Minister Modi's strong commitment to tackling health challenges within the nation. In 2016 alone, India tragically lost approximately 423,000 TB patients, accounting for a substantial third of the global total of 1.4 million TB-related deaths that year. This highlights the urgent need for focused action and increased prominence for TB control efforts.

While the campaign signals a renewed focus on TB, it notably does not directly address the significant role of tobacco use in TB-related mortality. Tobacco consumption is responsible for 7.9% of TB-related deaths in India. Despite a recent decline, tobacco use remains prevalent, with 28.6% of adults still using tobacco, including an estimated 625,000 children aged 10 to 14.

India's leadership in this critical health issue is expected to inspire similar actions from other countries. This is particularly timely, as 2018 marks an unprecedented year for TB advocacy, including the first-ever United Nations High-Level Meeting on TB in September. This meeting is one of only five UN high-level meetings dedicated to health issues, underscoring the global importance of addressing TB.