NEW DELHI, July 29 — Union Health Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda on Wednesday called on Members of Parliament from West Bengal to spearhead a nationwide people’s movement to eliminate tuberculosis, describing community participation as critical to India’s goal of ending the disease by 2030.
Chairing a meeting with MPs from West Bengal during the Monsoon Session of Parliament, Nadda said tuberculosis remains the world’s deadliest infectious disease despite being preventable and curable, underscoring the need for sustained political leadership, early detection and community engagement.
The meeting, titled “Parliamentarians Championing a TB Mukt Bharat,” brought together Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha members from across party lines as part of a series of consultations with MPs from different states to accelerate India’s tuberculosis elimination campaign.
Nadda said India has recorded a 21% decline in tuberculosis incidence between 2015 and 2024, nearly twice the global average decline of 12%, citing the WHO Global TB Report 2025. He added that India’s treatment coverage has reached 92%, compared with the global average of 78%.
He described the government’s TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan as “a defining moment in the nation’s fight against tuberculosis, built on innovation, compassion and unwavering political will,” and reiterated that the campaign aims to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal of eliminating TB by 2030.
Tuberculosis, caused by bacteria that primarily affect the lungs, remains one of the leading infectious disease killers worldwide. India carries the world’s highest TB burden, making progress in the country central to global efforts to reduce TB-related illness and deaths.
Nadda urged MPs to regularly review district-level TB elimination efforts, intensify awareness campaigns to reduce stigma, promote early detection through Ni-kshay Shivirs and screening of high-risk populations, strengthen oversight of health services, mobilise Ni-kshay Mitras and local organisations to support patients, and organise targeted Ayushman Arogya Shivirs in vulnerable communities.
Highlighting India’s strategy, he said mandatory notification of TB cases diagnosed in the private sector and free government-supplied medicines have helped reduce the financial burden on patients.
He also pointed to indigenous innovations driving the programme, including TruNat molecular diagnostic machines for detecting multidrug-resistant tuberculosis, AI-enabled handheld X-ray machines for early diagnosis in remote areas, and portable X-ray units supported through PM CARES to expand doorstep diagnostic services.
The minister said the government has increased nutritional support under the Ni-kshay Poshan Yojana to ₹1,000 per patient per month, introduced shorter treatment regimens and mobilised more than 500,000 Ni-kshay Mitras to provide nutritional, psychosocial and livelihood support to patients.
The meeting reviewed progress under the 100-Day TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan, launched in December 2024 and implemented in two phases. The second phase, launched in March 2026, focuses on nearly 158,000 high-risk villages and urban wards across the country.
Health Secretary Punya Salila Srivastava said expanding screening, treatment and patient support in West Bengal would be critical to translating national progress into community-level impact.
Additional Secretary and National Health Mission Mission Director Aradhana Patnaik said India’s molecular testing capacity has grown from a few hundred machines a decade ago to more than 9,000, supported by nearly 3,000 AI-enabled handheld X-ray units developed through indigenous innovation.
Patnaik said West Bengal expanded screening during the 100-day campaign by taking Ayushman Arogya Shivirs to urban slums, tea gardens, mining sites and migrant settlements to improve access for vulnerable populations.
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