India has the highest number of Tuberculosis cases in the world

27 per cent of the total TB cases in the world...

The Global TB Report 2023 by the World Health Organisation says, India had the highest number of Tuberculosis (TB) cases in the world in 2022. 

The country accounted for 27 per cent of the total TB cases in the world. There were 28.2 lakh cases and of them, 12 per cent (3,42,000 people) died due to the disease, said the report, which was released on Tuesday.  

The report revealed that 30 nations accounted for 87 per cent of the world's TB cases.  

India was followed by Indonesia (10 per cent), China (7.1 per cent), the Philippines (7.0 per cent), Pakistan (5.7 per cent), Nigeria (4.5 per cent), Bangladesh (3.6 per cent), and the Democratic Republic of Congo (3.0 per cent

The report estimated India has made progress in reducing the number of cases. From 258 patients per 1,00,000 people in 2015, it has dropped to 199 per 1,00,000 people in 2022. But the rate is still far higher than the global average of 133 per 100,000. 

Singapore had the lowest score of 1 per cent while China stood at 14th spot with 4 per cent. While TB is curable, death can occur when it is diagnosed late. 

During the pandemic the report estimated that, the number of deaths spiralled. Compared to pre-pandemic trends, around 60,000 more people died in India between 2020 and 2022.  

The report said from 192 countries more than 75 lakh people were diagnosed with TB in 2022, since WHO began monitoring the disease across the world from 1995, making it the highest figure recorded.