Experts urge more funds to tackle Tuberculosis crisis

Experts urge more funds to tackle Tuberculosis crisis

Context:

• Tuberculosis (TB) has become a national crisis in India.
• At the opening day of the 5the Global Forum on TB Vaccines in New Delhi, Health Ministry assured the TB community that eliminating the disease by 2025 had the ‘highest level of commitment from the PM office.

Death toll:

• Nearly 4.2 lakh Indians die of the disease every year
• Out of the 10 million cases globally, India shoulders the maximum burden with 2.8 million cases.
•  According to Health Ministry data, only 63% of the patients infected with the airborne disease are currently under treatment.
•  Further, 1,47,000 patients are resistant to first and second line TB medicines.
• At the current rate of progress, global targets to eliminate TB by 2030 will be missed by a 150 years.

Way ahead:

• Globally, governments need to invest more in TB research and development to meet the global targets.