Health

Tuberculosis:-

Tuberculosis (TB) is caused by bacteria (Mycobacterium tuberculosis) that most often affect the lungs.
It is one of the most common communicable disease in India, however, the disease is curable and preventable.
The transmission of the disease is further aggravated by unhygienic, crowded living conditions.
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.

Tuberculosis burden in India

Most Indians carry the bacterium and the infection is aggravated when their immunity levels are low, like when they are malnourished or suffering from conditions like AIDS.
India also has more than a million “missing” cases every year that are not notified.

Reasons for high burden

Improper diagnosis Most such cases remain either undiagnosed or unaccountable and inadequately diagnosed, and treated in the private sector.
Disease resistance
Many of these patients do not complete the full course of the antibiotic, thus exposing the bacterium to the medicine without fully killing it.
This trigger is enough for the bacterium to evolve into a version of itself that is resistant to that particular drug.

Malnutrition

For TB, India’s malnutrition burden acts as an additional risk factor.
As per the National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-4 (2015-16)
7 per cent children below age five are underweight
4 per cent are stunted (low height for age)
21 per cent are wasted (low weight for height)

Eradication target

For tuberculosis, the global Sustainable Development Goal target to end the disease is 2030.
However, there is a new urgency in India’s TB control efforts since last year, when the deadline to end TB was advanced to 2025.
But experts say the annual rate of TB reduction, at 2 per cent, is far lower than what is required to meet the target.