"India Reports Faster TB Decline, Launches Youth-Led JOSH Campaign"
Latent TB infection
TB bacteria present in the body without illness or ability to spread to others
BPaLM regimen
a shorter four-drug (Bedaquiline, Pretomanid, Linezolid, Moxifloxacin) treatment for drug-resistant TB
India carries the world's largest tuberculosis (TB) burden, with over 26 lakh new cases reported each year. TB is caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis and spreads through the air, mainly affecting the lungs. The National Strategic Plan for TB Elimination originally aimed to end TB in India by 2025, five years ahead of the global Sustainable Development Goal deadline of 2030; this target was later pushed back because of disruptions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Article 47 (a Directive Principle of State Policy) directs the State to raise nutritional levels and the standard of living and to improve public health, giving a constitutional basis for treating TB control as a public health duty of government. The right to health has also been read by the Supreme Court as part of the right to life under Article 21.
The programme has repeatedly shown that treating TB only as a hospital-based medical problem is not enough. UPSC has previously asked whether community-level healthcare intervention is a precondition for 'Health for All' in India, and India's own TB strategy answers this directly: large reductions in TB only came after the government combined clinical treatment with active community involvement. Volunteers called Nikshay Mitras provide food and psychosocial support to patients, and village-level bodies are certified 'TB-free' once they meet defined screening and treatment benchmarks. This shows that even a biologically well-understood, curable disease needs social mobilisation, not medicine alone, to be eliminated at scale.
TB exists in two forms. Active TB causes symptoms and can spread to others through coughing, sneezing or speaking, especially in poorly ventilated spaces. Latent TB infection does not cause illness and cannot spread to others, but can turn into active, infectious TB at any time. It does not spread through handshakes, shared utensils or public toilets, a common public misconception the government's awareness campaigns specifically target.
India's National TB Elimination Programme delivers free diagnosis and treatment through public health facilities and the Nikshay digital platform, which tracks every notified patient. …
Appropriate local community-level healthcare intervention is a prerequisite to achieve 'Health for All' in India. Explain.
In a crucial domain like the public healthcare system the Indian State should play a vital role to contain the adverse impact of marketisation of the system. Suggest some measures through which the State can enhance the reach of public healthcare at the grassroots level.
Consider the following statements regarding India's tuberculosis (TB) elimination progress as per the WHO Global Tuberculosis Report 2025:
1.India's new TB cases declined faster than the global average decline between 2015 and 2024.
2.India's TB treatment coverage is lower than the global average.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
With reference to India's tuberculosis control framework, consider the following pairs:
1.Nikshay Mitras — Food and psychosocial support to patients
2.Nikshay Poshan Yojana — Direct benefit transfer for nutrition
3.TB Mukt Bharat App — Toll-free helpline for case registration
Which of the pairs given above is/are correctly matched?
Which of the following constitutional provisions directs the State to raise the level of nutrition and public health?
The 'BPaLM' regimen, introduced for the treatment of drug-resistant tuberculosis, consists of which of the following drugs?
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