TB Control Faces Daunting Challenges in India

• Decades of unrestrained transmission has left hundreds of millions of Indians with latent TB infection, which may re-activate at any time.
• A significant proportion of the population is undernourished, which weakens immunity and drives TB reactivation.
• A considerable number more suffer from risk factors for tuberculosis,
  • Diabetes,
  • Indoor air pollution from cook stoves, or smoking.
• The dense, growing urban environment facilitates the transmission of the disease cutting across all economic strata.
• Infectious TB cases spread disease to their family and community, perpetuating the age-old cycle of transmission and risk
  • delayed diagnosis and
  • inadequate treatment, particularly among patients seeking care from private providers
• A large burden of multi-drug resistant (MDR-)TB and extensively drug resistant (XDR-)TB most of whom are undetected and continue to transmit disease;
  • The treatment is long, toxic and costly

Reference:

• GOI 2017, NATIONAL STRATEGIC PLAN FOR TUBERCULOSIS ELIMINATION 2017–2025: Central TB Division, Directorate General of Health Services, Ministry of Health with Family Welfare, New Delhi – 110 108