Yield from active case finding of tuberculosis cases among tribal population

For underdeveloped nations like India, tuberculosis (TB) ranks high among the top killers. The global death toll from tuberculosis is 1.5 million. In addition to setting a goal of elimination by 2025, India has made Tuberculosis (TB) a priority in its Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). The government has initiated Active Case Finding (ACF) to conduct house-to-house surveys and identify cases in order to reach the target. The purpose of this research is to assess the results of ACF in tribal district.

All tuberculosis (TB) cases reported through the ACF process within a certain time period were included in the present cross-sectional analysis, which comprised all villages of Chhota udepur district. In order to conduct the study among the tribal community, the Health and Family Welfare Department provided funding and approval.

Among all reported cases, 3828 presumptive TB cases were identified in 2019, 3033 in 2020, 3256 in 2021, 2956 in 2022 and 3047 in 2023. In 2019, 89 tuberculosis patients were diagnosed and enrolled in treatment. This increased to 118 patients in 2020, 95 in 2021, 115 in 2022 and 103 in 2023 because of ACF activity. Considering the number of people screened for each year, the ACF screening yield of 760 per 1 lakh in 2019 slightly increased to 820 per lakh population in 2020, 780 per lakh population in 2021, 1002 per lakh population in 2022 and 950 per lakh population in 2023. This increased the total case reported.

As a result of the effects of Active Case Finding, the study found that the reporting of tuberculosis cases in the tribal district increased.