New Delhi: Union Health Minister J P Nadda on Monday announced scaling up of the tuberculosis (TB) elimination campaign to cover all districts in India.
Launched on December 7 last year and initially implemented in 445 districts, the 100-Day Intensified TB Elimination Campaign aims to accelerate the fight against the disease by improving detection and treatment of TB cases.
Addressing the World TB Day 2025 Summit here, Nadda said 7.19 lakh new TB cases were notified during the campaign. Of these, approximately 2.85 lakh cases were asymptomatic and might have gone undetected without the stratified screening strategy.
He said 12.97 crore people were screened for TB with 7.19 lakh new cases detected from December 7 last year to March 17. India’s TB elimination strategy is based on ‘whole of the society’ and ‘whole of the government’ approach” he said.
The theme for this year’s World TB Day summit is “Yes! We Can End TB: Commit, Invest, Deliver”. The Union minister reaffirmed India’s unwavering commitment to achieving a ‘TB-Mukt Bharat’ (TB-free India) in his address.
He lauded the 100-Day Intensified TB Elimination Campaign’s strategy to deploy cutting-edge technology, including handheld X-ray units and upfront Nucleic Acid Amplification Testing (NAAT), some of which were deployed using mobile vans (Nikshay Vahans).
This helped the campaign shatter geographical barriers and brought vital screening and diagnostic services to remote and underserved areas, he said.
Nadda mentioned that over 13.46 lakh ‘Nikshay Shivirs’, or community screening and awareness camps, were organised in the districts bringing essential TB services directly to the doorstep of crores of people.
He noted that TB treatment coverage in India has increased from 59 per cent to 85 per cent.
“Among the notified TB cases, approximately 2.85 lakh were asymptomatic that might have gone undetected without the stratified screening strategy of the campaign,” he said.
More than 5,000 MLAs and 10,000 gram panchayats participated in the campaign, according to the minister.
Citing these successes, he announced the ministry’s plans to expand the campaign to cover all districts in India.
Nadda said that 22 ministries supported the 100-day campaign and more than 30,000 elected representatives were mobilised for the common cause, demonstrating that the fight against TB is a collective mission. In just 100 days, over 1,05,181 new ‘Nikshay Mitras’ have registered and distributed over 3,06,368 food baskets among TB patients and their family members, he said.
Nadda said modern technology was leveraged to improve case detection, reduce diagnostic delays and ensure timely treatment.
“The campaign strategically screened vulnerable populations, including asymptomatic individuals, household contacts of TB patients, those with a history of TB, undernourished individuals and those with chronic comorbidities such as diabetes and HIV,” he said.
