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The WHO Global Tuberculosis (TB) Report 2025presents a mixed picture of global TB control. While the world has begun to recover from the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, tuberculosis continues to remain the deadliest infectious disease globally. India, despite registering significant progress, continues to bear the highest TB burden, accounting for about 25% of global cases.

About the Global TB Report 2025

• The Global TB Report is the annual flagship assessment published by the World Health Organization.
• It tracks TB trends in terms of incidence, mortality, diagnosis, treatment, and financing at global, regional, and national levels.
• Its primary objective is to monitor progress under the End TB Strategy (2015–2035), which aims to achieve a 90% reduction in TB deaths and an 80% reduction in TB incidence by 2030 compared to 2015 levels.

Global TB Trends

• At the global level, TB incidence declined by 1.7% between 2023 and 2024, reaching 131 cases per 100,000 population, signalling a recovery from pandemic-era setbacks. Region-wise, declines were recorded in Africa, South-East Asia, Eastern Mediterranean, and Europe, while the Americas witnessed a fourth consecutive rise, largely attributed to under-detection and reporting gaps.
• In terms of burden, South-East Asia (34%), Western Pacific (27%), and Africa (25%) together account for the majority of TB cases. Eight countries contribute 67% of global TB cases, led by India (25%), followed by Indonesia (10%) and the Philippines (6.8%).
• A persistent global concern remains multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB), where progress in detection and treatment remains modest. Compounding the challenge, international TB financing has stagnated since 2020, with donor cuts expected from 2025 posing serious risks to national TB programmes.

TB Situation in India

• India has recorded notable gains over the past decade. TB incidence declined from 195 per 100,000 in 2023 to 187 per 100,000 in 2024, marking a 21% reduction since 2015, compared to a global decline of around 12%.
• In 2024, India diagnosed 2.61 million cases out of an estimated 2.7 million, substantially narrowing the gap of “missing cases”. TB mortality also fell from 28 per 100,000 in 2015 to 21 per 100,000 in 2024, though this remains far above the national elimination target of 3 per 100,000 by 2025.
• India continues to shoulder a disproportionate share of MDR-TB cases (about 32% globally), even though incidence is gradually declining. Government initiatives such as Ni-kshay 2.0, Pradhan Mantri TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyan, and expanded use of molecular diagnostics (CBNAAT and Truenat) have improved treatment coverage to around 92%.

Initiatives and Challenges

• Globally, efforts are anchored in the End TB Strategy, UN High-Level Meetings (2018, 2023), and support from mechanisms like the Global Fund and Stop TB Partnership, alongside updated WHO guidelines on MDR-TB and TB-diabetes comorbidity.
• However, major constraints persist: undernutrition, which weakens immunity; the complexity and cost of MDR-TB treatment; funding stagnation; weak surveillance in rural and private sectors; and the absence of a widely deployed new TB vaccine.