Tuberculosis

India develops own mathematical model for estimating TB cases in country

India has become the first country in the world to have developed a country-level mathematical model to estimate the prevalence of TB cases, official sources said on Tuesday. Using this model, TB incidence and mortality estimate data for India will be available by March every year, months before the annual WHO estimates are released in October, they said, adding that India can also prepare similar estimates at the state level in future. The model was presented before the delegates from 40 countries taking part in the 36th Stop TB Partnership Board meeting in Varanasi last week. Most of them lauded it saying they would want to implement it in their countries, the sources said. According to WHO estimates, the TB incidence rate (per 10,000) in India in 2021 was 210. Using the Indian mathematical model, it was estimated to be 196 in 2022. The WHO estimated that the TB incidence absolute number to be 29.50 lakh in 2021. The Indian model suggested it was 27.70 lakh in 2022. According to

India commits to eradicating TB by 2025, way ahead of global time line

Starts 3-month prevention course; generic low cost versions of J&J's MDR-TB drug likely to boost programme

World TB Day: PM Modi launches initiatives to eliminate disease by 2025

PM Modi launched the TB-Mukt Panchayat initiative, a pan-India rollout of a shorter TB Preventive Treatment (TPT) and a family-centric care model for tuberculosis

Natural immune system process of humans could be used to treat TB: Study

Human body's natural process of removing old and damaged cell parts could be harnessed to treat infections like tuberculosis (TB), reducing reliance on antibiotics, according to a new study. Researchers at the Francis Crick Institute, UK, investigated genes important for bacteria to evade autophagy, a self-destruction mechanism cells resort to when stressed. Their study is published in Nature Microbiology. According to the study, from induced pluripotent stem cells, a kind of specialist stem cells and are able to become any cell type in the body, the scientists engineered macrophages, or human immune cells. Following this, they disabled these macrophages from performing autophagy using genome editing tools. The cells were then infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis, bacteria causing TB. The scientists found that the infection took hold, replicating more within the edited macrophages and causing mass host-cell death. The results evidence the role of autophagy in controlling ...

WHO calls for intensified whole-of-government approach to end tuberculosis

On World TB Day, WHO Friday called for an intensified whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach to end the disease globally. It also highlighted the urgent need for strengthening high-level leadership and investments and accelerating the uptake of innovations and new recommendations of the world health body. Globally, the COVID-19 pandemic has not just stalled but reversed years of progress towards ending tuberculosis, said WHO Regional Director for South-East Asia Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh. In 2021, the estimated burden of new and relapse tuberculosis cases globally was 10.6 million, a half-a-million increase from 2020. Mortality from TB and TB-HIV infection stood at 1.6 million, an increase of around 200,000 from pre-COVID-19 levels, she said. The WHO South-East Asia Region bears the world's highest tuberculosis burden. In 2021, the region accounted for more than 45 per cent of global tuberculosis incidence and more than half of global TB deaths. Throughout the COVID-19

India committed to end tuberculosis by 2025: PM lauches TB-Mukt Panchayat

The Prime Minister said that around 2 lakh crore have been directly sent into the accounts of 75 lakh patients through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT)

India's TB programme: Low cost generics of J&J's MDR-TB drug on the anvil

Indian Patent Office's decision on J&J's bedaquiline came on the eve of World Tuberculosis Day, marked on March 24 every year, to raise public awareness & to boost efforts to end the TB epidemic

PM Narendra Modi to address 'One World TB Summit' on March 24 in Varanasi

One World TB Summit will provide an opportunity to further deliberate upon the targets as the country moves forward to meet its TB elimination objectives

Mandaviya flags off 75 trucks for awareness drive against Tuberculosis

Union Health Minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya on flagged off 75 Trucks with Tuberculosis (TB) awareness messages that have been provided by Apollo Tyres Foundation, who are supporting the Ni-kshay scheme

9.55L TB patients adopted under Centre's Ni-Kshay Mitra initiative: Govt

Around 9.55 lakh out of the 9.69 lakh consented tuberculosis patients have been adopted till March 9 under the Centre's Pradhan Mantri TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Tuesday. With the goal of achieving Sustainable Development Goals related to tuberculosis by 2025, five years ahead of the global targets, the National TB Elimination programme implements key activities, Minister of State for Health Bharati Pravin Pawar said in a written reply. The activities include state and district specific strategic plan for targeted interventions in high-burden areas, provision of free drugs and diagnostics to TB patients, including for drug-resistant TB, and active tuberculosis case-finding campaign in key vulnerable and co-morbid populations, the minister said. It also include integration with Ayushman Bharat - Health and Wellness Centres to decentralize screening and treatment services closer to the community, private sector engagement, scale-up of molecular diagnosti

India in advanced stage to deliver on global plan for TB vaccine: Mandaviya

Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya extended his full support for a global plan for a new tuberculosis vaccine by 2025 and said India is fully prepared and in an advanced stage for taking this forward

Clinical trials of new BCG vaccine for TB to start soon: Former CSIR chief

Clinical trials of a new BCG vaccine for tuberculosis will soon start in India, former director-general of the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) Dr Shekhar Mande said on Friday. He was speaking at the ongoing Indian Science Congress here. Earlier in the day, Dr Mande gave a presentation on Biophysical Methods in Tuberculosis Research' and spoke about how technology has helped doctors and researchers understand TB better, paving ways to combat the infectious disease. The CSIR is working towards rapid diagnosis, vaccination and treatment to eliminate the bacterial disease from India by 2025 as envisioned by the government, he said, speaking to reporters later. We are mainly focussing on new medicines and drugs for tuberculosis. We are doing background work and setting targets on research for prevention of tuberculosis, he said The National Institute of Tuberculosis Research, Chennai, will start clinical trials of the new BCG vaccine for TB, he said. Bacillus ...

IOCL to undertake intensified TB elimination project in UP, Chhattisgarh

IOCL has signed a MoU as part of its corporate social responsibility with CTD under Ministry of Health, and the states of Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh to undertake intensified TB elimination project

BCG can curb severe TB in children but efficacy wanes with time: MoS Health

BCG vaccination can prevent severe forms of tuberculosis in children but its protective efficacy wanes over time, Minister of State for Health Bharati Pravin Pawar informed the Lok Sabha on Friday. The risk of tuberculosis even after vaccination if exposed to the bacteria remains at all ages. However, the infection breaks down to disease if the immunity of the individual is compromised due to various conditions, Pawar said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha. A new skin test for detecting latent TB infection has been developed by a private agency. This has been validated by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and market authorization approval accorded by Drug Controller General of India (DGCI), the minister said in response to a question. To address the challenges and achieve SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) related to TB by 2025, the National TB Elimination programme implements key activities such as state and district specific strategic plans for targeted interventio

20.16 lakh tuberculosis cases, 73,551 deaths notified from Jan-Oct: Min

As many as 20.16 lakh tuberculosis cases and 73,551 deaths have been notified from January till October under the National TB Elimination Programme (NTEP), Minister of State for Health Bharati Pravin Pawar told Lok Sabha on Friday. There has been an 18 per cent increase in the number of tuberculosis cases notified under NTEP in 2021 (21.35 lakhs) in comparison with 2020 (18.05 lakhs), Pawar said in a written reply. The increase in the number of tuberculosis cases notified under NTEP has been due to increased efforts taken by the programme to decentralise diagnostics, active case finding, intensified private-sector engagement and specific strategies to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 and reach pre-Covid levels. The government has several steps to eliminate tuberculosis by 2025 under the 'Nikshay Mitras' initiative, she said. The Union Health Ministry launched the Pradhan Mantri TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyan on September 9 for community support to tuberculosis patients with the objective to

Over 1.5 mn people had missed or delayed TB diagnosis in 2020: Study

Over 1.5 million people in 45 high-burden countries, including India, are estimated to have had a missed or delayed tuberculosis diagnosis in 2020 due to the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a study. The research, published in the journal BMC Medicine, shows that children may be disproportionately affected in over half of countries analysed, those aged 65 or over in more than two thirds of countries, with sex being a risk factor in almost half of countries. The team, including researchers from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), UK, noted that vulnerable populations in high-burden countries worldwide must be prioritised in efforts to reduce the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on tuberculosis (TB) care. "Our results show that in many countries those who already faced the most difficulty in obtaining TB diagnosis and care have suffered worsening access as a result of the pandemic," said study joint lead author Finn McQuaid, from ...

TB cases notified in India in 2021 18% higher than 2020: Health Ministry

In wake of WHO's Global TB Report 2022, that notes the impact of Covid on diagnosis, treatment and burden of disease for TB all over, India said that the country has performed better on major metrics

India reports 2.14 mn new TB cases in 2021; 18% higher than previous year

A total of 21.4 lakh TB cases were notified in India in 2021 18 per cent higher than 2020 with over 22 crore people screened for the disease across the country for early detection and treatment, according to the WHO'S Global TB report. Under the Pradhan Mantri TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyan, an initiative of the government, more than 40,000 Nikshay Mitra are supporting over 10.45 lakh TB patients all over the country presently, the Union Health Ministry said. The World Health Organization, which released the report on October 27, noted the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the diagnosis, treatment, and burden of disease for TB all over the world. Taking note of the report, the Union Health Ministry on Friday claimed that India has, in fact, performed far better on major metrics as compared to other countries over time. "India's TB incidence for the year 2021 is 210 per 100,000 population compared to the baseline year of 2015 (incidence was 256 per lakh of population in India); there ha

Tuberculosis cases surged for the first time in many years, says WHO

An estimated 10.6 million people fell ill with tuberculosis in 2021, an increase of 4.5 from 2020, and 1.6 million people died from TB, according to the World Health Organization's 2022 report

Lupin ties up with global agencies to support tuberculosis treatment

Drug firm Lupin on Friday said it has tied up with Unitaid, The Aurum Institute, the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), and other global procurement agencies to support tuberculosis prevention treatment initiative to be rolled out to 138 countries. As per the agreement, the Mumbai-based firm will introduce two new formulations, a fixed-dose combination of Rifapentine + Isoniazid and Rifapentine 300 mg standalone tablets, at an affordable price in various regions, including many low-and middle-income countries with a large burden of tuberculosis (TB). "We are committed to enhancing the global access to affordable and high-quality drugs and APIs for the treatment of tuberculosis... "Through this, we will further reinforce our long legacy to provide shorter, more patient-friendly treatment options to prevent TB," Lupin Managing Director Nilesh Gupta said in a statement. Lupin is a leading player in the cardiovascular, anti-diabetic, and respiratory segments.