India’s TB report must be seen in light of the country’s slide in Hunger Index | The Indian Express

India’s TB report must be seen in light of the country’s slide in Hunger Index | The Indian Express

Written by Shah Alam Khan |Updated: October 26, 2019 1:44:32 pm

The writer is professor, department of orthopaedics, All India Institute of Medical Sciences. The views expressed are personal.

India’s TB report must be seen in light of the country’s slide in Hunger Index

With a virtually unregulated private health system, an increase in notification of TB patients could be heartening for the government. But for the public health system, it is bad news.

An end to TB is not possible till we end malnutrition, poverty and poor sanitation.

Over the last month or so, we saw some important documentation on India’s public health. The Annual India Tuberculosis (TB) report was released by the government on September 26. India is now home to about a quarter of the total global TB patients. The current government is committed to ending TB in India by 2025.