TB-free India is a distant goal as national plan struggles to meet targets

Country's share in global TB burden narrowed from 27% in 2015 to 25% in 2024 but it still has the most cases in the world

Devdas, the tragic protagonist of at least two Hindi movies based on Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay’s Bengali novel, suffers from and eventually succumbs to tuberculosis. This illness fuels his self-destructive path and separation from his love, Paro. The movies use TB as a metaphor for decay and sorrow in a country where the bacterial disease is a highly relatable and relevant public health issue.

 

India’s share in the global TB burden narrowed from 27 per cent in 2015 to 25 per cent in 2024 but it still has the most cases in the world (one in four), according to the Global