According to World Health Organisation Report (WHO), an estimated 10 million people fell ill with tuberculosis (TB)? and 1.5 million people died worldwide in 2020.??
The numbers include 5.6 million men, 3.3 million women and 1.1 million children.?
About one-quarter of the global population is projected to be infected by TB bacteria, of which only 5-15% of people will fall ill with active TB disease. The rest are infected with TB but have no illness and could not transmit the disease.
TB is one of the most ancient diseases and is documented to have existed as early as 3000 BC. At present, the disease is the 13th leading cause of death and the second leading infectious killer after COVID-19. It is noteworthy that TB surpassed HIV/AIDS in killing people.
India tops the list for accounting for most TB cases in the world followed by Indonesia (8.5%), China (8.4%), the Philippines (6%), Pakistan (5.7%), Nigeria (4.4%), Bangladesh (3.6%) and South Africa (3.6%).??
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Usually, the lungs (pulmonary TB) are affected by the disease but other body parts (extra-pulmonary TB) can also be affected. TB is a communicable disease and spreads through the air. An infected cough or sneeze can infect a person. TB is a preventable and curable disease but continues to take millions of lives the world over.?
In 1947, about half a million TB deaths annually and an estimated 2.5 million Indians suffered from active TB when India gained independence. The first national survey of TB was conducted from 1955 to 1958 in India. The survey found out that on average four of every 1,000 people in the country had TB.
With 2.5 million TB cases, India has the world¡¯s highest TB burden presently. An estimated 504,000 people died from TB in India in 2021. The country has the highest global share of 27%. According to Global Tuberculosis Report 2020, an estimated 1 crore people contracted TB in 2019, of which over a quarter of them was in India.
?India reported a 19% increase from the previous year in TB patients¡¯ notification. In 2021, 1.93 million patients were notified while the year 2020 reported 1.62 million.
As per the TB prevalence survey (2019-2021) conducted by the Health Ministry, Delhi, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Chhattisgarh are the worst-hit states.
The National Institute of Research in Tuberculosis (NIRT) has planned a conduct a study to assess whether a booster dose of the Bacille Calmette Guerin (BCG) vaccine can reduce the burden of Tuberculosis (TB).
According to Dr Padmapriyadarsini, Director, ICMR-NIRT, ¡°It¡¯s more like a BCG booster or BCG revaccination in the household contacts of TB patients. So, it is for the household contacts. If there is a TB patient, the household contacts who are between the age group of 6 and 18 years, will get a BCG booster. So this would be a BCG booster or BCG vaccination.¡±
¡°All of them would be followed for a period of two years to see whether they develop TB.So, this study is undertaken to see whether BCG can protect the household contacts living with TB patients from developing TB.¡± She said.
Under India¡¯s Universal Immunisation Programme, Bacille Calmette Guerin (BCG) vaccine is offered to all babies at birth. A TB vaccination program was started in 1948 in India.?
It is widely used worldover to reduce the risks of natural TB infection and its efficacy in newborns is well established. The BCG vaccine doesn¡¯t protect against TB in adults.
NIRT through the study plans to find out whether the kids and adolescents who live in close proximity to TB patients develop TB after receiving BCG booster.
The United Nations committed to end TB globally by 2030. The strategy called ¡°End TB¡± aims to bring down TB cases by 80%, deaths by 90%, and eliminate catastrophic costs for TB-affected households.
Further, India committed to eliminate it by 2025. The National Tuberculosis Elimination Programme was introduced to combat the endemic.?
The national strategic plan for TB elimination in India includes four strategic pillars of ¡°Detect ¨C Treat ¨C Prevent ¨C Build¡± (DTPB) as the way forward.
The Nikshay Ecosystem is a one-stop solution to manage information of patients and monitor program activity and performance throughout the country. Further, the Nikshay Poshan Yojana (NPY) aims to provide financial support to TB patients for their nutrition.
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