Pariksha SaathiPIB Backgrounder: India's TB Cases Fall 21% (2015-2024) Against 12% Global Decline, JOSH Youth Campaign Launched
A PIB backgrounder issued on 13 October 2026 reviewed India's progress against tuberculosis, citing the WHO's Global Tuberculosis Report 2025: India's yearly new TB cases fell 21% between 2015 and 2024, against a 12% global decline, deaths fell 28% over the same period, and India's treatment coverage stands at 92% against a global 78%. Under the intensified TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan, cumulative screening has crossed 28.1 crore people, with 20 lakh given TB Preventive Treatment and 5.7 lakh new Ni-kshay Mitras (volunteer 'TB friends' who support patients) added; the treatment success rate under the Abhiyaan has risen to 90%, above the global average of 88%. The backgrounder also announced the JOSH (Joint Squad for Health) campaign, launched on 13 October 2026 as a pilot across 11 states and 55 districts, in which teams of MY Bharat volunteers and NCC cadets, led by a Class-I officer, spread awareness about screening and treatment. Other recent steps cited include a shorter six-month BPaLM drug regimen for drug-resistant TB, now used by over 15,000 patients, and a 34-fold increase in X-ray screening through handheld AI-enabled units. As of 13 October 2026, India has 1,87,250 Ayushman Arogya Mandirs offering TB diagnosis.
Drafted with AI assistance from the official PIB release linked above and checked against it by a second AI pass. Not line-edited by a human.
Learning context
Tuberculosis remains the world’s leading cause of death from a single infectious agent: the World Health Organization’s TB fact sheet records that it killed an estimated 1.23 million people globally in 2024, out of an estimated 10.7 million people who fell ill with TB that year.
Reference: WHO’s Tuberculosis fact sheet
Check yourself: does India’s 21% fall in new TB cases (2015-2024) mean TB has stopped being a major global killer?
No — TB is still the world’s leading cause of death from a single infectious agent, with about 1.23 million deaths globally in 2024 per WHO; India’s faster-than-global decline is real progress, but the disease remains a major global burden.
Revision task: from this release, separate India’s own cumulative screening figure (28.1 crore people) from its national treatment success rate (90%), and keep both apart from the standing global WHO figures above.
Test yourself
According to the PIB backgrounder citing WHO's Global Tuberculosis Report 2025, by what percentage did India's yearly new TB cases fall between 2015 and 2024?
Show the answer
Answer: 21%
India's yearly new TB cases fell 21% against a 12% global decline, deaths fell 28%, and treatment coverage stands at 92% against 78% globally.
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