The Missing TB Patients in India And Other Facts You Need to Know

The WHO released its Global TB Report 2019 today. Here are five facts you need to know

A volunteer signing the signature campaign poster during a TB awareness programme for eradication of TB in India.

(Photo: iStockphoto)

5,40,000 patients.

Yes, that's the number of Tuberculosis patients that were unreported in India in 2018 - of the estimated 2.69 million TB cases that emerged. While 2.15 million cases were reported to the Government of India, more than half a million remained unreported. These are the missing TB patients of India, as reported by World Health Organisation (WHO) in their Global TB Report 2019.

But there's also good news for India when it comes to TB. We tell you quickly in five facts that you must know.

1. The total TB incidence rate in India has decreased by almost 50,000 patients over the past one year. While India had 27.4 lakh TB patients in 2017, the number came down to 26.9 lakh in 2018. The incidence per 100,000 population has decreased from 204 in 2017 to 199 in 2018.
2. Globally, 7 million people were diagnosed and treated for TB - up from 6.4 million in 2017. However, an estimated 3 million of those with TB still are not getting the care they need. The WHO's report highlights that the world must accelerate progress if it is to reach the Sustainable Development Goal of ending TB by 2030.
3. The highest burden of TB in 2018 is in 8 countries: Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, and South Africa. These eight countries accounted for two thirds of the global total: India (27%), China (9%), Indonesia (8%), the Philippines (6%), Pakistan (6%), Nigeria (4%), Bangladesh (4%) and South Africa (3%). Further, up to 80 per cent of TB patients in high burden countries spend more than 20 per cent of their annual household income on treating the disease.
4. The treatment success rate has increased to 81% for new and relapse cases (drug sensitive) in 2017, which was 69% in 2016. 2018 also saw a reduction in the number of TB deaths: 1.5 million people died from TB in 2018, down from 1.6 million in 2017. But while the number of new cases of TB has been declining steadily in recent years, the burden remains high among low-income and marginalized populations: around 10 million people developed TB in 2018.
5. About one-quarter of the world's population has latent TB, which means people have been infected by TB bacteria but are not (yet) ill with the disease and cannot transmit it.