CHR News Desk | New Delhi
Gurgaon has recorded 7,665 Tuberculosis (TB) cases, the highest in six years, with children constituting the major proportion of them.
Health department officials on Tuesday said the 11.9% increase from the 6,851 cases in 2022 shows enhanced testing and surveillance efforts by the government.
“Timely identification and treatment play a crucial role in the prevention and management of TB,” said Virender Yadav, Gurgaon’s chief medical officer. “With increased testing, a vast majority of patients are being diagnosed and treated, which will gradually decrease the disease burden. We need corporate support to detect active cases early as TB is highly contagious.”
Despite these efforts, the district still lags in eliminating tuberculosis. The goal for 2023 was an incidence rate of 77 cases per 100,000 population, but Gurgaon remains at 199 cases per 100,000.
“For 2023, the goal was to have an incidence of 77 cases per 100,000 population, but we are still at 199. So, it is unlikely that we’ll be able to eliminate TB in India by 2025,” said Dr. Bornali Dutta, director of respiratory and sleep medicine at Medanta Hospital.
Dr. Dutta noted that while the COVID-19 pandemic shifted focus away from TB, it also led to precautions like mask-wearing and social distancing, which may have slowed TB spread. However, economic hardships during lockdowns likely contributed to the disease’s spread among lower-income populations.
Pulmonary tuberculosis is the most common form of the disease, affecting both children and adults, Dr. Dutta added. Children constitute the largest proportion of TB cases globally.
Gurgaon’s administration runs the Nikshay Mitra program, providing registered TB patients with free medicines and food until recovery. Since its 2022 introduction, around 700 people have registered.
Nationally, efforts are coordinated under the National Tuberculosis Elimination Programme (NTEP). According to the World Health Organization (WHO), TB remains one of the top 10 deadliest diseases globally, with 340,000 TB-related deaths in India in 2022.
TB is caused by _Mycobacterium tuberculosis_, primarily affecting the lungs, and is spread through the air when infected individuals cough, sneeze, or spit. The estimated TB incidence in India increased slightly to 2.78 million in 2023, up from 2.74 million the previous year, with mortality remaining steady at 320,000.
The WHO Global Tuberculosis Report 2023 provides a comprehensive assessment of the TB epidemic and progress in its prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. India, engaged in TB control for over 50 years, continues to face a severe health crisis with significant underreported cases. The National Strategic Plan 2017-2025 outlines steps to reduce TB incidence, leveraging advanced interventions and aiming for TB elimination by 2025.
