India records 38% drop in TB mortality since 2015: WHO report

India has seen a 38% reduction in tuberculosis (TB) mortality since 2015, compared to a global average of 35%, and a 94% treatment success rate among patients with drug-susceptible TB, according to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Global Tuberculosis Report 2026.

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Last year, the South-East Asia Region recorded the largest number of new TB cases (35%), followed by the Western Pacific Region (27%) and the African Region (25%).

Around 88% of new TB cases occurred in 30 countries. India (about a quarter), Indonesia (10%), the Philippines (6.8%), China (6.5%), Pakistan (6.4%), Nigeria (4.9%), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (3.9%) and Bangladesh (3.7%) accounted for about a q of the global total.

The top five countries made up 55% of the total.

Globally, about 50% of people treated for TB and their households face total costs (direct medical expenditures, non-medical expenditures, and indirect costs such as income losses) that are catastrophic (greater than 20% of total household income).

People with compromised immune systems, such as those living with HIV, undernutrition or diabetes, or people who use tobacco have a higher risk of falling ill. An estimated 9.6 lakh new TB cases were attributable to undernutrition, 9.2 lakh to diabetes, 7.3 lakh to alcohol use disorders, 6.9 lakh to smoking and 5.5 lakh to HIV infection.

The report showed a total of 1.13 million people died from TB in 2025. Globally, TB is the world’s leading cause of death from a single infectious agent. Last year, an estimated 10.6 million people fell ill with TB worldwide, including 5.7 million men, 3.7 million women and 1.2 million children.

Multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) remains a public health crisis and a health security threat. Only about two in five people with drug-resistant TB received treatment in 2025. Global efforts to combat TB have saved an estimated 86 million lives since 2000.

Tuberculosis is an infectious disease caused by bacteria that most often affects the lungs. It spreads through the air when people with TB cough, sneeze or spit. TB is preventable and curable.

Between December 7, 2024 and November 8, 2026, the TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan achieved significant progress, identifying and bringing over 25 crore individuals within the scope of screening activities.

“India’s reduction in TB mortality has been the result of interventions under the National TB Elimination Programme (NTEP), including proactive case finding including use of AI-enabled X-rays, rapid diagnostics, prompt treatment initiation, differentiated TB care, and nutritional support through the Nikshay Poshan Yojana and Nikshay Mitra initiative. These interventions were supported by AI tools for identification of hotspots, prediction of high-risk TB cases prone for adverse outcomes, Khushi – AI Chatbot & Avatar Videobot, etc.,” the Union Health Ministry statement said.