Bihar can find its missing TB patients

The issue

According to the WHO's Global Tuberculosis Report 2025, new TB cases in India fell 21% between 2015 and 2024, from 237 to 187 per lakh people, and TB deaths fell 28%. The fall is about twice the global rate. India had set itself the goal of ending TB by 2025, five years before the Sustainable Development Goal date of 2030, and that goal was missed.

The change in method came with the 100-day TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan, launched on 7 December 2024 in 347 high-priority districts and since extended to every district. Health workers now go out to screen vulnerable groups with X-rays and rapid molecular tests instead of waiting for the sick to come in. By March 2026 over 20 crore people had been screened and more than 28 lakh patients diagnosed, 9 lakh of them without symptoms. Under the Nikshay Poshan Yojana, each notified patient receives Rs 1,000 a month for food; since 2018, Rs 4,454.68 crore has reached 1.38 crore people. Ni-kshay Mitras, volunteers and organisations that adopt patients, give food baskets and support.

Our view

Nearly one in three patients found in the campaign had no symptoms. They would never have walked into a clinic, and they spread the disease meanwhile. That makes active case finding the right tool for Bihar, where TB is common, where many people seek care first from private practitioners and pharmacies, and where workers move between the State and cities elsewhere.

Bihar has done this before. Patna was one of the first cities, in 2014, to test a model for bringing private doctors into the TB programme, which was later scaled up across the country. The State should now build on that with numbers. Screening counts alone say little. What matters is how many of those screened were tested, how many were found positive, how many began treatment and how many finished it. Bihar should publish this chain for every district, so that gaps show up where they occur.

Food support matters as much as medicine. Undernutrition is a leading cause of TB in India, and the Rs 1,000 a month helps only if it arrives on time. Panchayats, which can earn TB-free certification, are well placed to track that patients receive both..

The other side

• Campaign targets can push staff to report screening numbers that look good but miss the people most at risk.
• Screening people without symptoms costs more per case found, and X-ray and testing capacity in rural Bihar is limited.
• Drug-resistant TB needs longer and harder treatment, and a campaign built on case finding does not solve that by itself.

Using it in Mains

This fits GS Paper 2 (health, government schemes). For BPSC, use it in General Studies on Bihar's social sector and health.

Q. Examine the shift from passive to active case finding in India's fight against tuberculosis. What should Bihar do to make the most of it?

• Incidence down 21% and deaths down 28% since 2015 (WHO, 2025).
• Asymptomatic cases: 9 lakh of 28 lakh diagnosed.
• Private sector engagement: the Patna model of 2014.
• Nutrition support: Nikshay Poshan Yojana and Ni-kshay Mitras.
• Keywords: care cascade, TB Mukt Bharat, SDG 3.3, Jan Bhagidari.