The increase in the number of tuberculosis (TB) cases in India and globally has become a matter of concern for health experts. According to doctors, Covid-19 infections lead to an increase in the incidence of TB. The temporary immunosuppressive effects of Covid-19, lung damage and the steroids used to treat the virus have lead to the reactivation of either previous infection or latent TB or the development of new TB (Pics/iStock)
Updated On: 2023-03-28 11:23 AM IST
Compiled by : Anagha Sawant
Dr Wiqar Shaikh, professor of medicine, Grant Medical College and Sir JJ Group of Hospitals, stated that according to the WHO, there were 10.6 million cases of TB worldwide in 2022. The National TB Prevalence Survey of 2022 said that there were a total of almost 26 lakh TB cases in India in 2022, or 316 cases per lakh population, a jump of 19 per cent from the previous year. Indeed, as per the WHO Global TB Report of 2022, India is considered a high TB country and more than 26 per cent of TB cases in the world are from India
Dr Shaikh said that in the world, almost 13 lakh people died of TB in 2022 and five lakh were Indians. Delhi is considered the TB capital of India, and last year the incidence of TB in Delhi was 737 cases per one lakh of the population, which is much higher than the national average
The health experts have welcomed the patent of wonder drug Bedaquiline coming to an end in July, which they say will allow pharma companies to make a generic version that is affordable. Bedaquiline, which costs approximately R35,000, will cost to a few hundred rupees now that its patent is ending, according to Dr Subhash Hira, professor of global health at the University of Washington-Seattle
Dr Ketan Vagholkar, professor of Surgery at Dy Patil Medical College, said, "There has been a surge in the incidence of TB during and after the pandemic. Diagnosis of TB during the pandemic was difficult and invariably delayed, causing disseminated TB. Difficulty in securing anti-TB medication during the pandemic added to the problems. This led to complications and drug-resistant TB”
According to Dr Hira, “In 2022, the top eight countries that have two-thirds of TB cases are India (28 per cent), Indonesia (9.2 per cent), China (7.4 per cent), the Philippines (7 per cent), Pakistan (5.8 per cent), Nigeria (4.4 per cent), Bangladesh (3.6 per cent) and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (2.9 per cent). There are several major challenges to global TB elimination by 2030; these include a rise in MDR-TB to 4.5 lakh new cases in 2021”
