‘UP recorded highest TB cases in country between 2022 & 2024’

Agra: Uttar Pradesh recorded the highest number of tuberculosis (TB) cases in India between 2022 and 2024, with 18,22,453 cases reported during the period and Agra emerging as the worst-affected district in state last year, as per data shared by the Union ministry of health and family welfare in reply to a query raised on Fri by Samajwadi Party Lok Sabha MP Dharmendra Yadav.
The data revealed that in 2022 and 2023, Agra documented the second-highest number of cases, with 20,963 in 2022 and 26,455 in 2023, trailing behind Lucknow, which recorded 21,886 cases in 2022 and 27,966 in 2023. However, in 2024, Agra topped all 75 districts in UP, reporting 30,965 cases, while Lucknow registered 30,460 cases.
Statewide, TB cases surged over the three-year period. The ministry reported that 5,17,715 cases were documented in 2022, rising to 6,22,959 in 2023 and further escalating to 6,81,779 in 2024. During this time, Maharashtra recorded the second-highest number of cases at 6,82,396, followed by Madhya Pradesh with 5,48,972 cases and Rajasthan (503,665).
"Due to intensified efforts by the govt to identify all TB cases, the notification of TB cases has increased steadily. The World Health Organisation's Global TB Report 2024 stated that the estimated TB incidence rate in India has declined by 17.7%, from 237 per lakh population in 2015 to 195 per lakh population in 2023," the govt said in its response.
Explaining the surge in cases in Agra, district TB officer Dr Sukesh Gupta said, "The high number of cases is primarily due to intensified testing in the district. We accelerated the presumptive TB examination rate by deploying mobile TB detection vans equipped with X-ray machines and medical staff. These vans were stationed at identified hotspots to boost testing and patient identification. Additionally, sputum testing was ramped up across the district. We also sensitised community health officers and other medical officials to improve both X-ray and sputum testing."