Tuberculosis incidence falling in India by 21% a year: WHO report
Latest developments in tuberculosis research and healthcare
Tuberculosis Incidence Falling in India by 21% a Year: WHO Report
India's tuberculosis (TB) incidence has decreased by 21% annually, with new cases emerging each year, according to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Global TB Report 2025. The Union Health Ministry announced on Wednesday, November 12, 2025, that the incidence dropped from 237 TB cases per lakh population in 2015 to 187 per lakh population in 2024. This decline is nearly double the global pace of 12%.
The report highlights that India's reduction in TB incidence is among the highest globally, exceeding reductions seen in other high-burden countries. The Ministry stated that this progress is due to innovative case-finding approaches and the swift adoption of new technologies. It also credits the decentralization of services and large-scale community mobilization for this success.
The release further indicated that India's treatment coverage surged to over 92% in 2024, up from 53% in 2015. In 2024, 26.18 lakh TB patients were diagnosed out of an estimated 27 lakh cases. The Ministry also mentioned a significant reduction in "missing cases," those who had TB but were not reported to the program, from an estimated 15 lakh in 2015 to less than one lakh in 2024.
The Ministry also reported no significant increase in the number of multidrug-resistant (MDR) TB patients. The treatment success rate under the TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyan has increased to 90%, surpassing the global treatment success rate of 88%. Furthermore, India's TB mortality rate has decreased from 28 per lakh population in 2015 to 21 per lakh population in 2024, demonstrating substantial progress in reducing TB-related deaths.
Since its launch in December 2024, India’s TB elimination mission, the TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyan, has screened over 19 crore vulnerable individuals for TB across the country. This effort has led to the detection of over 24.5 lakh TB patients, including 8.61 lakh asymptomatic TB cases, as detailed in the report.