3 min readMar 25, 2026 06:05 AM IST First published on: Mar 25, 2026 at 06:05 AM ISTEight years ago, the government announced its intent to eliminate tuberculosis in the country by 2025. Though India could not meet the deadline, it has taken appreciable strides in slowing the incidence of this bacterial disease. Today its healthcare system diagnoses more than 80 per cent of the estimated cases, a far cry from 2015 when close to 50 per cent of those infected by TB fell outside the radar. However, the disease continues to present a formidable challenge. Close to a lakh cases go undetected in the country, and chances of the infection spreading remain high. That’s why the Centre’s 100-day campaign against TB, which began on Tuesday, is a step in the right direction. Public health programmes against difficult contagions require periodic bursts of urgency focused on high-risk areas, because national figures can often mask deeply localised epidemics. Chhattisgarh’s 100-day anti-TB project recognised this imperative — it eliminated the disease in more than 4,000 gram panchayats between December 2024 and March 2025.Over the next 100 days, healthcare workers will screen those living in 1.58 lakh villages. They will also reach out to vulnerable people such as those living with HIV, diabetes and residents of high-density areas The government has also pushed for expediting its Rs 1,000 monetary support for nutrition to TB patients. The thrust on timely payments is a recognition of one of the shortcomings of the anti-TB programme. Reports have shown that delays in processing the payment have rendered the nutritional support ineffective in several parts of the country. In contrast, the success of the anti-TB programme in Chhattisgarh and Puducherry owes much to timely cash transfers to the undernourished.AdvertisementThe government would do well to treat its latest drive as a catalyst for improved diagnostics, regular follow-ups and better community engagement. Institutionalising the learnings of the 100-day campaign could go a long way in addressing the most difficult TB-related challenge — the disease’s multidrug-resistant version. This virulent form of TB occurs largely because of the mismanagement of the disease. TB care is exacting for patients as well as caregivers — that’s why patients continue to drop therapy mid-course or do not take the correct dosage. The 100-day anti-TB campaign needs to lay the ground for improved support systems.