India missed its 2025 TB target. How much progress has it made?

India has not met its target of eliminating tuberculosis (TB) by 2025, despite making progress in recent years. While TB remains the biggest infectious killer globally, India's mortality rates have declined by 38% since 2015, falling from 28 per lakh population to 18 per lakh population. However, India's TB mortality reduction to 75% of the 2020 End TB milestone remains distant.

The country has also seen an increase in rapid diagnostic testing, with 46% of cases being diagnosed using these methods in 2025, up from 38% the previous year. Additionally, India has increased its domestic funding for TB control, making up for most of the 9% rise in TB funding across low- and middle-income countries in 2025. However, India's data on TB incidence is not included in the 2025 Global TB report due to the new district-level surveillance data becoming available.

This data is crucial as it would provide information on undiagnosed and untreated cases who may continue to spread the infection. Health experts believe that sustained efforts and proper funding are necessary to control the disease, but India is unlikely to meet its TB targets.