Notification of tuberculosis cases in India: Moving ahead in Revised National Tuberculosis Control Program

Tuberculosis (TB) is currently the leading cause of death from a curable infectious disease accounting for 8.7 million new cases and 1.4 million deaths in the year 2011. From the year 2012, TB is a notifiable disease in India which means that all cases of TB diagnosed by any means has to be reported to the public health authorities. This would help policy makers to make rational decisions with regard to strengthening of existing infrastructure and scaling-up of TB control activities in the country. Employment of multiple measures directed towards different stakeholders can be strategically implemented to intensify and fast-track the process of TB notification. In conclusion, the Indian Government's decision to specify TB as a notifiable disease is a historical and a much awaited step in the TB control activities. However to obtain the desired results, program managers along with the health care workers have to work in an integrated and collaborative manner so that the burden of TB can be reduced in years to come.