Current scenario of TB in India

TB has attained epidemic proportions in India. With 3.4 million cases total, India carries more than 20% of the world’s TB burden.

However, TB is not just a public health problem but a socioeconomic one. Affected individuals suffer from extreme fatigue in addition to other debilitating ailments. They are fired from their jobs or are forced to leave. The stigma associated with TB in communities has drastic consequences for women and children. 100,000 women are abandoned by their families and more than 300,000 children leave their schooling as a result of TB every year.

TB takes a toll not only on the family but also on the community. An affected person infects approximately 12 other people in his lifetime. More than 70% of TB cases occur in the age group of 15-54 years, the primary age group in the workforce. The number of days lost from the workforce due to TB related ailments costs the Indian government at least $3 billion annually.

The World Health Organization’s has made it one of its Millennium Development Goals to reverse the incidence of TB by 2015. Achieving this goal would save the Indian government more than its entire annual health budget. 

TB : The biggest health crisis confronting India

“Tuberculosis has historically been one of the world’s biggest killers. Nearly one-third of over 11,000 (business leaders from all over the world) expect tuberculosis to affect their business in the next five years. One out of 10 expects the effects to be serious.”

Tackling Tuberculosis: The Business Response
World Economic Forum, February 2008