TB incidence in India fell by 21%, almost twice the global decline of 12%, says WHO report

India’s tuberculosis (TB) incidence, with new cases emerging every year, fell by 21% — from 237 TB cases per lakh population in 2015 to 187 per lakh population in 2024 — almost double the pace of decline observed globally, at 12%, according to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Global TB Report 2025, the Union Health Ministry said in a release issued on Wednesday (November 12, 2025).

This was one of the highest declines in TB incidence globally, outpacing reductions noted among other high-burden countries.

“India’s innovative case finding approach, driven by the swift uptake of newer technologies, decentralisation of services, and large-scale community mobilisation, has led to the country’s treatment coverage to surge to over 92% in 2024, from 53% in 2015 — with 26.18 lakh TB patients being diagnosed in 2024, out of an estimated incidence of 27 lakh cases,” the release said.

The Ministry said this had helped reduce the number of “missing cases” — those who had TB but were not reported to the programme — from an estimated 15 lakh in 2015 to less than one lakh in 2024. 

Also, there is no significant increase in the number of multidrug-resistant (MDR) TB patients in the country, it said, adding that treatment success rate under the TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyan increases to 90%, ahead of the global treatment success rate of 88%.

Similarly, India’s TB mortality rate has decreased from 28 per lakh population in 2015 to 21 per lakh population in 2024, reflecting significant progress in reducing deaths due to TB. 

Since its launch in December 2024, India’s flagship TB elimination mission, the TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyan, has achieved extensive reach, screening over 19 crore vulnerable individuals for TB across the country, leading to the detection of over 24.5 lakh TB patients, including 8.61 lakh asymptomatic TB cases, the report said.