Note from the USAID/India Mission Director Ambassador Jonathan Addleton

Tuberculosis (TB) is silently killing India. An estimated 2.2 million cases are reported annually: of these 220,000 prove fatal. This is the highest number of deaths from TB anywhere in the world. The United States Government, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), is working collaboratively with the Government of India (GOI), the private sector and local partners to help India in its fight against TB. At the national level, USAID is supporting the GOI’s Call to Action For a TB-Free India – a full-scale campaign to engage healthcare providers, corporate partners, media, celebrities, academia, and patients to end TB in India. This will be achieved by encouraging the adoption and implementation of best practices for the prevention, detection and treatment of TB as well as by raising awareness to reduce the social stigma associated with the disease and empowering communities.

In addition, USAID will soon initiate the Tuberculosis Health Action Learning Initiative (THALI), a $22.5 million program that will complement the Revised National TB Control Program (RNTCP) by engaging municipal governments and private providers to prevent, test, and treat TB in select cities in India. The program will help urban communities by strengthening the capacity of private providers to follow international standards for TB care, diagnosis and treatment and by testing and scaling innovations that improve treatment adherence. For example, USAID is supporting the first national anti-TB drug resistance survey and the first large-scale pilot project to diagnose TB among people living with HIV.

This bimonthly progress update focuses on activities and events supported by the U.S. Government in September and October to end TB in India. We hope that you will find it informative. Together we can achieve a TB-free India!