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GS2 · Health

TB incidence down 21% since 2015: WHO Global TB Report

1 min readDiseasesPublic Health Programmes
Battle IAS current affairs title card: TB incidence down 21% since 2015: WHO Global TB Report (GS2 · Health, 12 November 2025)
Asked by UPSCPrelims 2022, 20162 PYQs

UPSC has already asked about this. Read the story with these questions in mind.

What happened

  • TB incidence in India fell 21%, from 237 per lakh in 2015 to 187 per lakh in 2024, almost twice the global rate of decline [PIB].
  • Treatment coverage reached 92% and treatment success 90% (global 88%). About 26.18 lakh patients were diagnosed in 2024 [PIB].
  • The TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyan, started in December 2024, found 24.5 lakh patients including 8.61 lakh without symptoms, using hand-held X-rays with AI and wider NAAT testing [PIB].

Background

  • The TB programme’s annual budget has risen about ten-fold [PIB].

Why it matters

  • Finding asymptomatic cases is the big change: they spread infection without knowing it.

How to use this in Mains

GS-II Issues relating to development and management of health

  1. As per PIB (2025-11-12): TB incidence in India fell 21%, from 237 per lakh in 2015 to 187 per lakh in 2024, almost twice the global rate of decline.
  2. Finding asymptomatic cases is the big change: they spread infection without knowing it.
Quotable data point

Treatment coverage reached 92% and treatment success 90% (global 88%). About 26.18 lakh patients were diagnosed in 2024.

PIB: MoHFW: TB incidence drops 21%, 12 Nov 2025

Exam angle

UPSC

Prelims: TB numbers. · Mains: public health programmes.

Practice MCQs

Original practice questions (not PYQs).

Practice · UPSC

TB incidence per lakh in 2024

Answer (b) & explanation

PIB.

Practice · UPSC

Decline in incidence 2015-2024

Answer (b) & explanation

PIB.

Practice · UPSC

Treatment success rate in India

Answer (c) & explanation

PIB.

Go deeper

ExplainerOne Health Approach: Why Human, Animal and Environmental Health Are Linked, Zoonotic Diseases, the Global Quadripartite and India’s National One Health Mission (UPSC Notes + PYQs)ExplainerAntimicrobial Resistance (AMR): How Superbugs Arise, the Global and Indian Burden, Causes in Hospitals, Farms and the Environment, and India’s National Action Plan 2.0 (UPSC Notes + PYQs)

Official source: PIB: MoHFW: TB incidence drops 21%, 12 Nov 2025

facts from cited sources only; faculty review pending