India sees tuberculosis resurgence after Covid-19 hit fight against ‘silent killer’
- India faces an uphill battle to meet PM Narendra Modi’s goal of ending the spread of TB by 2025, after the pandemic reversed years of progress
- Increased mask-wearing was one silver lining, but more funding is now needed for TB vaccines and support to combat malnutrition, a major trigger for the disease
India is the home to a quarter of the world’s TB infections and an estimated half a million people died of the curable lung disease in 2020 in the South Asian nation – one-third of the global toll.
In India, the number of new cases detected in 2020 actually fell by a quarter to around 1.8 million because of Covid-19 restrictions and as the pandemic diverted resources.
Nearly two-thirds of people with TB symptoms did not seek treatment, according to a 2019-21 nationwide government survey released on World TB Day on Thursday.
Ashna Ashesh, 29, diagnosed with multidrug-resistant tuberculosis four years ago, saw how patients, many isolated and jobless because of lockdowns, struggled for support.
“They were incredibly afraid … They were reaching out for any kind of information that could be offered about how to access tests and medication,” said the public health professional with the Survivors Against TB collective.