After Missing 2025 Goal, Centre Widens TB Net With Workplace Screening, Youth Mobilisation

The centre has stepped up its TB elimination campaign after missing the 2025 target, prioritising active case finding, workplace screening and youth mobilisation to meet the WHO's 2030 deadline.

The renewed push comes at a time when India continues to bear the world's highest TB burden. Although the country has recorded a steady decline in TB mortality—from 28 deaths per lakh population in 2015 to 21 per lakh in 2024, according to official data—the disease remains the world's leading killer from a single infectious agent.

Tuberculosis, caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis, primarily affects the lungs but can also spread to the brain, kidneys, spine and other organs if left untreated.

The government's strategy was reviewed at a high-level interministerial meeting chaired by Union Health Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda, along with Union Labour and Employment and Youth Affairs and Sports and Labour Welfare Minister Mansukh Mandaviya and Minister of State for Defence Sanjay Seth. The meeting focused on accelerating implementation of the TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan through closer coordination among ministries and wider community participation.

A senior official from the Union Health Ministry said the next phase of the campaign would prioritise vulnerable occupational groups, particularly workers employed in the mining, construction, textile and transport sectors, besides migrant labourers, who face a higher risk of infection because of overcrowded workplaces, poor ventilation, dust exposure, frequent migration and inadequate access to healthcare.

Addressing the meeting, Nadda said the country's youth must play a central role in transforming the TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan into a nationwide people's movement. Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent directions during the PRAGATI review meeting, he said achieving a TB-free India would require a "whole-of-government and whole-of-society" approach involving ministries, educational institutions, workplaces, civil society organisations and community volunteers.

He said active participation of young people would be crucial in strengthening awareness, promoting early diagnosis, improving treatment adherence and supporting TB patients within communities.

Launched in December 2024, the TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan has significantly expanded active case finding across the country. According to the Union Health Ministry, more than 28 crore vulnerable individuals have been screened for tuberculosis so far, resulting in the notification of over 39 lakh TB patients.

One of the campaign's most significant achievements has been the identification of 12.93 lakh asymptomatic TB patients through proactive screening using chest X-rays. Health officials said these individuals would likely have remained undiagnosed for months, continuing to transmit the infection unknowingly within their communities.

Early detection of asymptomatic cases has emerged as a critical component of India's elimination strategy because treatment initiated before symptoms develop substantially reduces disease transmission while improving treatment outcomes.

Building on these gains, the Centre is now placing greater emphasis on workplace-based interventions. Officials said a proposed TB-free Workplace Framework will integrate routine TB screening into occupational health services across industries with a high disease burden.

The initiative will encourage employers, trade unions and labour welfare organisations, including the Employees' State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) and the Directorate General Factory Advice Service and Labour Institutes (DGFASLI), to organise regular screening camps, facilitate uninterrupted treatment for affected workers and create supportive workplace policies.

The official said workplace screening is expected to substantially improve early diagnosis among workers who often have limited interaction with the public health system and delay seeking medical care until the disease has progressed.

Youth mobilisation will constitute another major pillar of the campaign. Nadda urged the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports to expand the involvement of MY Bharat volunteers and National Cadet Corps (NCC) cadets by strengthening the existing TB Mukt Bharat Toli model.

Under the expanded programme, volunteers will mobilise communities for screening camps, conduct awareness campaigns in schools, colleges and villages, and participate in experiential learning programmes that prepare them as lead Ni-kshay Mitras to support TB patients throughout treatment.

The Ministry of Defence has also been asked to deepen community engagement by involving NCC cadets and defence personnel in awareness rallies, household contact education, nutrition support initiatives and mobilisation for screening camps. TB awareness activities will also be integrated into NCC training camps, adventure programmes, Republic Day and Independence Day events, and rural outreach initiatives.

Seeking to broaden the campaign's institutional reach, Mandaviya proposed engaging nearly six lakh undergraduate and two lakh postgraduate medical students through medical colleges across the country. He also suggested involving officers under the Pratibha Setu programme in District TB Coordination Committees to strengthen planning, implementation and monitoring at the grassroots level.

The Union Labour Minister also recommended bringing the Union Ministry of Education into the campaign to leverage educational institutions and youth networks for sustained awareness generation and community mobilisation.

The campaign has simultaneously expanded patient support services. More than 5.7 lakh Ni-kshay Mitras have registered under the initiative and distributed 38.9 lakh nutrition baskets to TB patients.

In addition, over 20 lakh patients have received personalised support under the programme's differentiated care model, which tailors treatment and social assistance according to individual clinical needs, informed the official.