WHO Global TB Report 2026: India's TB Deaths Down 38%

India has posted its sharpest fall yet in deaths from tuberculosis. The WHO Global Tuberculosis Report 2026, which came out on 12 November 2026, puts the drop in India's TB mortality at 38% when measured against 2015. The worldwide fall over the same stretch was 35%, so India has moved faster than the global average.

The numbers that matter

The estimated death rate has come down from 28 per lakh of population in 2015 to 18 per lakh in 2025. Among people being treated for drug-susceptible TB, 94% complete treatment successfully. The Union Health Ministry also points out that 96% of what the TB programme needs in money is now raised at home rather than from outside donors.

How the estimate was built

For this edition the World Health Organization pulled three streams of evidence together: the Sample Registration System kept by the Registrar General of India, verbal autopsy assessments carried out in communities, and the programme's own records on the Ni-kshay portal. ICMR-NIRT ran a nationally representative prevalence survey in 2025; it has been shared with WHO, technical discussions are on, and an updated country profile for India will follow.

Screening under TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan

The first intensified 100-day drive opened on 7 December 2024 in 347 high-priority districts spread over 33 States and Union Territories, and was later widened to the whole country. A second 100-day round began on 24 March 2026, this time targeting 1.58 lakh high-risk villages and wards along with congregate settings. Between 7 December 2024 and 8 November 2026 the campaign brought more than 25 crore people within the net of screening, ran over 11 crore chest X-rays and more than 3 crore nucleic acid amplification tests, and picked up 48.64 lakh new patients. Of these, 14.97 lakh carried no symptoms, which is why proactive screening matters. In 2025, 67,933 panchayats were declared TB free.

Technology and community support

Portable AI-enabled digital X-ray units, wider rapid molecular testing, the Ni-kshay platform for tracking patients, cash help for food under the Ni-kshay Poshan Yojana and voluntary support through Ni-kshay Mitra form the backbone of the National TB Elimination Programme. Screening is now paired with checks for diabetes and undernutrition. Young volunteers come in through JOSH Teams set up at block and ward level, each headed by a Class-I officer and backed by five NCC cadets and five MY Bharat volunteers.