India’s next phase of the tuberculosis (TB) response could depend increasingly not only on understanding just where the deadly disease occurs but also on the bacterium that causes it.
Doctors from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi, will study the genetic and observable characteristics of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (TB) and examine how these may be linked to the clinical course of the disease, including drug resistance and treatment outcomes.
In this regard, a new three-year research project supported by the Union Bank of India (UBI) through its corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative was launched at the Department of Medicine at AIIMS on October 6.
The bank is providing fund for specialised research equipment, technical manpower and community-related activities. The study will bring together genomic profiling, phenotypic analysis and clinical information. Researchers hope that understanding the genetic makeup of the TB bacterium and the way it behaves will generate evidence that could eventually improve patient management, particularly in difficult and drug-resistant cases.
“Once you know the bacteria completely in terms of its genes causing resistance and in terms of how those genes express themselves—that is the phenotype—you begin to understand both its genetic makeup and how it behaves in the body,” explained Dr (Prof) Arvind Kumar, Faculty of Medicine, Infectious Disease, Obesity and Metabolic Disorders, AIIMS, Delhi, and lead researcher of the project.
This approach is significant because TB is not a uniform disease. Different strains of M tuberculosis can carry different genetic characteristics, including mutations associated with resistance to anti-TB medicines. Understanding these variations could help researchers establish clearer links between the organism's biology, drug resistance and patient outcomes, he added.
“Drug-resistant TB remains one of the biggest challenges in India's efforts to end the disease. Unlike drug-sensitive TB, resistant forms can require longer and more complex treatment and may respond poorly to conventional regimens,” said Dr Kumar, who will work along with Prof. (Dr) Neeraj Nishchal, also from the Infectious Disease and Medicine Department, AIIMS Delhi.
The research therefore seeks to go beyond simply establishing whether a person has TB.
“If you know what you are killing and what you are targeting, the chance of success is very high,” he added.
The project will examine the organism at both the genetic and phenotypic levels. While genomic analysis can identify genetic changes associated with resistance, phenotypic assessment can help establish how those changes translate into the actual behaviour of the bacterium.
Such information could eventually help researchers understand why particular drugs fail and which combinations may be more effective against resistant strains, he further explained.
The work is particularly relevant for a tertiary-care institution such as AIIMS, which receives patients referred from different parts of the country, including those with complicated disease or inadequate response to prolonged treatment.
“AIIMS is different in terms of the cases we see. They are patients who fall somewhere between complete treatment and no treatment and are on very long-term ATT without improving,” the expert said.
“Patients come from the farthest parts of the country. This geographical diversity could provide us with an opportunity to study a wider range of bacterial strains and resistance patterns,” said Dr Kumar.
The UBI-AIIMS Delhi partnership comes at a crucial stage in India's TB response. The country had set an ambitious target of eliminating TB by 2025, but the disease continues to pose a major public-health challenge. The national goal now aligns with the broader target of ending TB by 2030 as set by the WHO.
Government data show that the number of new TB cases reported annually declined by 21% between 2015 and 2024, while TB-related mortality fell by 28% during the same period. Under the TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan, more than 20 crore vulnerable people had been screened, and over 28 lakh TB patients were diagnosed by March 2026.
Delhi has also intensified its screening efforts. During a review in July 2026, the Union Health Ministry said the capital had screened 28.83 lakh people, conducted 21.67 lakh chest X-rays and 3.65 lakh molecular tests, with 1.75 lakh TB patients notified under the campaign.
However, researchers say that reaching the 2030 goal will require continued progress in diagnosis and treatment as well as deeper understanding of the pathogen itself.
The research is not intended to replace existing TB-control protocols but to strengthen the scientific evidence underpinning future approaches to diagnosis and treatment.
Prof Nikhil Tandon, Director, AIIMS New Delhi, highlighted the importance of partnerships between academic institutions and public-sector organisations in addressing major public-health challenges.
Asheesh Pandey, MD & CEO, UBI, and HK Das, General Manager, UBI, Delhi Zone, were among those present at the launch.
Avinash Chandra, Regional Assurance Head (Delhi South), UBI, said the initiative marked the zone's first health project at such a scale.
“The premier health institution had approached us with the proposal which we found very urgent and the need of the hour. It’s a shared commitment to supporting high-quality, translational research in tuberculosis and contributing to the broader national and global efforts towards tuberculosis elimination.”
The initiative also reflects a changing role for CSR funding in healthcare. Instead of focusing only on infrastructure or service delivery, the partnership is supporting specialised scientific research that could contribute to long-term public-health solutions.
