India Cuts TB Mortality by 38%, AP, Telangana Report Over 56% Decline

India has recorded a 38 per cent decline in its tuberculosis (TB) mortality rate over the past decade, outperforming the global reduction of 35 per cent, while achieving a treatment success rate of 94 per cent among patients with drug-susceptible TB, according to the World Health Organization's (WHO) Global Tuberculosis Report 2026. However, the country continues to account for nearly one-fourth of the global disease burden, with significant differences in state-level performance and its updated national incidence estimate still under review.

The report, released on November 12, estimated that 10.6 million people developed TB globally in 2025, while 1.13 million died from the disease. India accounted for approximately 25 per cent of global cases, remaining among the eight countries with the highest disease burden. Its estimated mortality rate declined from 28 deaths per lakh population in 2015 to 18 in 2025.

The WHO assessment draws on information from 187 countries and territories, representing more than 99 per cent of the world's population and estimated TB cases. India's mortality estimates incorporated data from the Registrar General of India's Sample Registration System, community-based verbal autopsy assessments and the Ni-kshay portal.

However, India's updated TB incidence estimate was withheld from the 2026 report pending technical assessment of district-level surveillance data. Revised estimates are expected in early 2027. Earlier estimates had indicated a decline from 237 cases per lakh population in 2015 to 195 in 2023, but these figures do not represent the latest confirmed assessment.

Expanded Screening and Treatment Support

Between December 7, 2024 and November 8, 2026, intensified screening activities covered more than 25 crore people, with over 11 crore chest X-rays conducted. The campaigns detected 48.64 lakh new cases, including 14.97 lakh asymptomatic patients. A further 100-day campaign launched on March 24, 2026, targeted 1.58 lakh high-risk villages and urban wards. Meanwhile, 67,933 Panchayats were declared TB-free in 2025.

The government increased monthly assistance under the Ni-kshay Poshan Yojana from Rs 500 to Rs 1,000 per patient in October 2024. By January 2026, over seven lakh Ni-kshay Mitras had registered, more than 22 lakh patients had received nutritional support and over 49 lakh food baskets had been distributed. Undernutrition was associated with an estimated 3.73 lakh TB cases in 2023. The shorter BPaLM regimen for eligible drug-resistant TB patients had also been initiated for more than 15,000 patients by December 2025.

Andhra Pradesh, Telangana Record Over 56% Mortality Reduction

State-level parliamentary data show that Andhra Pradesh recorded a 57.4 per cent reduction in reported mortality among notified TB patients, with the rate declining from 4.7 per cent in 2015 to 2 per cent in 2024. Telangana registered a 56.5 per cent reduction, from 4.6 per cent to 2 per cent.

Jharkhand recorded a 35.7 per cent decline, followed by Maharashtra at 23.6 per cent, Gujarat at 21.4 per cent and Odisha at 20.4 per cent. Uttar Pradesh registered a 15.8 per cent reduction, while Bihar recorded 10 per cent.

However, the two southern states showed different recent trends. Andhra Pradesh's rate fell to 1.6 per cent in 2023 before rising to 2 per cent in 2024, while Telangana's declined steadily from 3 per cent in 2022 to 2 per cent in 2024.

Uttar Pradesh recorded the highest number of notified cases, with 5,63,573 between January and October 2024, followed by Maharashtra (1,86,706), Bihar (1,67,193) and Madhya Pradesh (1,49,093). In contrast, Puducherry, Kerala and Goa reported the highest mortality proportions among notified patients in 2024, at 10.3, 9.8 and 9.2 per cent respectively.

ICMR-NIRT's 2025 national prevalence survey was designed to cover 1.5 lakh people across 50 districts, using cluster sampling, chest X-rays and laboratory tests. Its findings have been shared with WHO and remain under technical discussion. The earlier 2019–2021 survey screened 3,22,480 people against a planned sample of five lakh and identified 981 microbiologically confirmed pulmonary TB cases.