Sat Nov 09 17:45:00 UTC 2024: ## India Fails to Meet TB Targets, Falling Short of 2025 Elimination Goal
**New Delhi, India** – Despite ambitious pronouncements, India is falling short of its tuberculosis (TB) reduction targets, failing to meet even the 2020 milestones of the WHO End TB Strategy.
In 2018, Prime Minister Narendra Modi set a goal of “eliminating” TB by 2025, ahead of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) deadline of 2030. However, according to the WHO Global TB Report 2024 and the India TB Report 2024, India will not meet even the 2025 milestones set by the WHO End TB Strategy, let alone achieve “elimination” by 2025.
While India has seen a decline in TB incidence and deaths since 2015, the progress has been slow. The TB incidence rate in India in 2023 was 195 per 100,000 population, a reduction of only 18% since 2015. The mortality rate has also declined, but only by 24%, falling to 22 per 100,000 in 2023.
These figures are far from the 2025 targets set by the WHO End TB Strategy, which require a 75% reduction in TB deaths and a 50% reduction in TB incidence from 2015 levels. Furthermore, India has not even met the 2020 milestones of the End TB Strategy, which called for a 35% reduction in TB deaths and a 20% reduction in TB incidence compared to 2015.
The slow progress raises serious concerns about India’s ability to achieve its TB elimination goal. Experts say that the government needs to intensify its efforts to combat TB, including improving access to quality healthcare, strengthening surveillance systems, and addressing social determinants of health.
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