Epidemiological situation of tuberculosis in India

Epidemiological information on tuberculosis (TB) is vital for planning the control strategies in addition assessing the impact of intervention programmes. The survey findings by ICMR revealed the prevalence of sputum positive pulmonary TB is about 4 per 1000 population and an estimated 1.5 million infectious cases spreading infection in the community. Studies conducted by the National Tuberculosis Institute, Bangalore revealed similar diseases prevalence of sputum positive pulmonary TB. The annual risk of tuberculous infections defined as the probability of acquiring new infection with tubercle bacilli over a period of one year is the key parameter for the epidemiological study in developing countries. It is estimated that there are about 4.6 lakhs death in the country every year with one person dying every minute. The average annual risk of tuberculous infection is about 1.7%. The prospects of decreasing TB case now look good provided that all TB cases have access to the DOTS strategy by bringing the remaining uncovered half of the population under RNTCP.