Every year, the world observes World TB Day on March 24 to raise awareness of the continued tuberculosis epidemic, especially in the developing world, and efforts to fight it. March 24 is the date in 1882 when mycobacterium tuberculosis – the pathogenic bacteria which causes the disease – was discovered the Nobel Prize winning scientist […]
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Tuberculosis and the impact of COVID-19
While India continues to pour resources into fighting the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, other health issues are too often sidelined. Many, such as tuberculosis (TB) have plagued India since long before the pandemic. TB, due to rapidly developing drug resistance, threatens to become all but untreatable in the coming decades. This situation can only worsen as […]
HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria: A surge in deaths?
It is not news that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused unprecedented disruption to public health – and as managing the pandemic ostensibly takes top priority for health systems worldwide, the ramifications for management of other diseases is a real concern. This concern has been raised in a modelling study released by The Lancet Global Health […]
Coronavirus – not India’s sole health concern
Media coverage – especially on the topic of healthcare – is currently dominated by the coronavirus (COVID-19). This is not unexpected, as the disease figures worldwide are surging, now exceeding one million cases. However, in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, we cannot lose sight of other health concerns, as failure to address these could […]
Coronavirus to disrupt TB medicine supply?
World TB [Tuberculosis] Day was observed on March 14. A number of points were raised regarding progress against the disease. However, in the era of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, fears were also raised over supply chains – including by the World Health Organization (WHO). Officials of the WHO noted that, due to the pandemic and […]
World TB Day 2020: India’s progress on the disease
“COVID-19 is highlighting just how vulnerable people with lung diseases and weakened immune systems can be,“ said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General. “The world committed to end tuberculosis (TB) by 2030: improving prevention is key to making this happen. Millions of people need to be able to take TB preventive treatment […]
TB elimination by 2025: Vardhan speaks out
Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan has affirmed that the Centre is working towards its goal of tuberculosis (TB) elimination ahead of global targets. “By 2025, we wish to eliminate tuberculosis from India,” the Minister informed the press on the sidelines of the Rotary India Centennial Summit in Kolkata on Saturday. The 2025 target for […]
TB mortality: A nineteen percent reduction
Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan has touted India’s progress in reducing deaths due to tuberculosis (TB), with a nineteen percent reduction in TB mortality since the beginning of the decade. Affirming the Government’s commitment to eradicating TB by 2025 – five years ahead of global targets to reduce TB incidence by eighty percent and […]
TB cases spiked in India last year
Tuberculosis (TB) cases spiked in India last year, according to the latest government figures. This is according to the latest government figures, which indicated that 27 lakh cases were recorded in the country in 2018. This included 21.5 lakh cases notified to the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme (RNTCP) compared to eighteen lakh cases notified […]
How Mumbai fares in the fight against TB
Drug resistance is one of the most pressing public health challenges facing India, especially when it comes to tuberculosis (TB). As the country grapples with one of the largest TB burdens in the world, rising cases of drug resistance presents an alarming trend. TB cases which become resistant to the most effective front-line drugs are […]